Power Rangers Indomitable Spirit
by Talanane
Summary: Two transfer students, Ryo and John, accompany their teacher when he goes to pick up his daughter. On the way back they are attacked by the minions of a Spirit Overlord. Fortunately they receive the powers of their own Guardian Spirits.
1. Chapter 1

**Power Rangers Indomitable Spirit**

**By Talanane**

The following is a work of Fanfiction. This means that it contains some characters, items, locations and other things that I neither own nor have the rights to. It also means that I never have and never will make any money off of these works.

* * *

In this Universe there are two factors that make up life. The physical, which makes up the body, and the spiritual, which provides the driving force for living things. Now for most of human civilizaion, with a few exceptions, mankind has focused on the physical aspect of existence, being either unaware or just ingnoring the spiritual. This has contributed to an imbalance between the physical and the spiritual. Now certain forces and entities are emerging to take revenge on the human world. Fortunately ther are those who are granted the power to oppose these forces. They are,

POWER RANGERS INDOMITABLE SPIRIT!

* * *

**Episode One: Spiritual Awakening.**

Location: Prairie City High School.

It began as just another relatively boring afternoon in Henry Lightbird's American History class. Well, most of his students would consider it so, and it showed since a number of them were obviously not paying very much attention. He sighed inwardly and harrumphed.

"Class, I know that it's getting toward the end of the day, but please!"

"Aw, come on teach! It's Friday!", one male student said.

"That may be.", Mr. Lightbird told him. "But I also know that anyone who ignores history will repeat it, next year."

"Oh, Benny's like that all the time.", one girl said.

"Is that so Miss Shivers." the teacher replied. "Then maybe I should refer Mr. Delt here to the Councilor's or the Principal's office."

The class laughed at that for a few moments before Henry reigned them in. "Now to continue. As is was saying....."

The bell rang before he could say anything else. As the class began picking up their books to leave, Mr. Lightbird called out. "Now please remember to read pages 217 to 225 for Monday. And make sure to have those worksheets on the Trail of Tears all filled out, all right?"

"Yeah, Yeah," a few of the students mumbled.

As the students were filing out, Mr. Lightbird caught sight of two boys within the group, who just so happened to be two of the better students in the class. One of them, a young man with light brown hair and another with dark brown hair, brown eyes ans sporting thick dark eyebrows. "Ah, Mr. O'Neill, Mr. Urawa, one moment!?"

"Mr. Lightbird?", "Sensei?", the two boys O'Neill and Urawa said respectively.

"Well boys, I was wondering if the two of you had anything you had to do this afternoon?"

"Why? Are you giving us more homework?", O'Neill asked.

The middle aged Native American teacher laughed. "If you consider meeting a pretty girl homework, it is."

"What?" the boy replied, confused.

"Well, you see, my daughter is coming into town at the bus station a little later this afternoon, ans it's her first time in this town. Well, she's about your age and she doesn't have any friends here yet." Mr. Lightbird clarified.

"I get it." O'Neill said. "It's an escort mission, of sorts."

"Something like that." the teacher chuckled. "I just want you two to come with me when I pick her up. If it would be all right with your folks that is."

"I got no problem with it." O'Neill replied.

"Understood Sensei." Urawa said.

* * *

A few minutes later Mr. Lightbird and the boys were all in the teacher's old and somewhat scuffed up black now more of a gray pick up truck. Since it was only a standard cab mode, the boys were seated in the truck's bed in the back.

"Hey Ryo!" the O'Neill boy called out to Urawa. "What do you thing Mr. Lightbird's kid is like?"

"How should I know John?" Ryo replied. "It's not like I can predict everything."

"Who's asking you to predict?" John said back. "It's not like I'm asking you who's going to win the Pennant or anything."

"Well, If she takes after her father, she probably has brown skin and eyes with black hair. Anything else I can't say." Ryo replied.

"Gee, thanks a lot!", John shot back sarcastically.

A few moments after that comment the truck stopped at an intersection, but not due to a traffic light. Instead they could hear the honking of horns and when they looked, they could see that there was a traffic jam at the intersection.

"A traffic jam?" John said. "Must have been an accident."

"Must have been." Ryo agreed, although for some reason he had a feeling that there was more to it than that.

Just then a local police officer was making her way down the line of stranded vehicles, checking out the mess. She might not have paid special notice to Henry Lightbird's truck, except for the fact that the two boys were riding in the back. Since this was technically illegal, she approached on the driver's side and had a few words with the teacher.

"What's going on officer?", Mr. Lighbird asked as she approached.

"Oh that?" We're investigating now, but it seems to be a simple case of a truck driver losing control. It's just lucky that you weren't in it, or those two boys riding back there would have been thrown out for sure. As she said that she pulled out her ticket book and started writing. "Just so you know, I'm going to have to write you up for that, since the law requires all passengers to be wearing seat belts."

"What?" We were just going to the bus station to pick up my daughter. It wouldn't have taken long. Henry replied.

"No excuses." the officer said a little curtly. "Now I expect all three of you to show up in court."

"_Grr. White man's law.", _Henry thought as he took the ticket. Then the female officer continued down the line of cars with a 'have a nice day.", as she left.

* * *

It took about another twenty minutes for the traffic jam to be cleared and traffic to resume. By the time Henry and his students finally reached the bus station, all three of them were a little tired. There were a few people waiting in an area with wooden benches and a few hard backed wooden chairs, most with a suitcase or two beside them. This included two young people, one of them a girl with short medium brown hair and amber eyes, with light tan skin. She was wearing slightly tattered jeans and a gray T Shirt with a Playstation logo. Not at all how Ryo had speculated Mr. Lightbird's daughter to appear. He was proven totally wrong when she saw the teacher and got up, holding the handles of two small suitcases in either hand.

"Finally!" she said. "You're late Old Man." as she almost dragged her suitcases making her way toward him.

"Sorry Lisa. We got held up by traffic." the 'Old Man' answered her.

"Whatever." she said, not really focusing on her father but rather taking a couple of sidelong looks at the boys, which both of them noticed.

"Ahem." John said.

"Oh yes." Mr. Lightbird answered. "Boys, this is Lisa. Lisa Lightbird, my daughter."

"I'm John, John O'Neill." John said, holding out his hand in greeting.

"Ryo, Ryo Urawa." Ryo introduced himself, bowing slightly.

"Hey Ciao." the girl replied, taking neither the handshake nor the bow. The two boys just shrugged at her behavior.

"Kids these day." Henry groused as his daughter just set down her suitcases and traipsed out the door, leaving him to pick them up. In turn he pointed to them and asked, "Boys, if you would please?" , to which the two of them just nodded and picked up one bag apiece. A couple of minutes later they were in the parking lot, loading the bags into the truck bed and crawling back in, while Lisa took the second seat in the truck cab.

"That girl looks like she's going to be trouble." John commented as the two boys took their positions.

"A little rude and disrespectful maybe." Ryo said, nodding.

Meanwhile in the cab, Lisa's father was telling her about it.

"Lisa, you were quite rude to those boys back there." he said

"So what, they're just boys." she replied. "But that one, Jon, Jonny was it? He's kind of cute."

"It wouldn't have hurt you to greet them more politely." Henry told her. "At least you could have asked them to carry your bags if you didn't want to, instead of just dropping them."

"So?" she replied, pouting.

"I don't know how your mother puts up with you."

"Well, she's not around a lot." Lisa put in. "So I don't have to 'be polite'."

"Lisa, Lisa." Henry sighed. "Your mother is a wonderful woman and would do anything for you."

"So why didn't she stay with you?" Lisa asked, a little saddened and angry at the same time. "I know why. It's because she never really loved us."

"Lisa!" her father said, almost losing control in more ways than one. Neither he nor his daughter had time to say anything more because the nest moment he had to swerve to avoid something that was in the middle of the road. He slammed on the brakes, almost throwing the boys out of the back like the officer had warned earlier. When he and his daughter had recovered their breath, they peered out the windows at what was outside.

"What the heck are those!?" Lisa shouted, making her father's ears ring.

The older man looked at them and realized something. "They're spirits, child. I don't know why, but somehow they have become disturbed.

"Spirits? As in Ghost?", Lisa queried.

"Ghosts are only one kind of spirit." Henry told her. There are also spirits of Earth, Water, Sky, and many other things." As he opened the truck door, he reached into a decorated leather pouch, taking out what appeared to be some sort of charm, an 'Ojo del Dios', or 'God's Eye', bound with black, white, and gray yarn and strung on a leather thong. Passing this to his daughter he said. "Now hold onto this and don't lose it. It will protect you."

"What?" the girl replied.

"Just take it." her father pleaded, pressing the talisman into hier hands and slowly stepping out of the truck.

Meanwhile the boys were standing up in the truck bed, also looking at the things and rubbing a few bruised they had picked up in the sudden stop. The things seemed to be some combination of bird, wolf and snake all rolled into one. (A vulture's head on a humanoid wolf's body, covered in scales with the fur growing out between them, and with the hide missing in spots, showing the bones.) Ryo, like their teacher, noticed that somehow these things were not physical creatures.

"Kami?!" he said as he looked at the things.

"Kami, what?" John asked.

"What you would call spirits." Ryo replied

"Oh great." the O'Neill boy said back sarcastically. "As if the 'snakes' weren't enough."

"I take it you don't particularly like snakes, O'Neill?" Ryo commented.

"Hate em." John replied in a matter of fact tone.

At that moment their teacher had gotten out of the truck and came up to them saying. "Oh, boys? I want you two to go stand by the front and look after Lisa for me while I go see about these spirits."

"I don't know about that pops. I don't thing these things, whatever they are, are in the talking mood, you know?" John said, noticing the things edging up toward the truck.

"Maybe not." Henry Lightbird replied. "But I have to try." He then passed each boy a talisman identical to the one he gave his daughter. He then turned and made his way toward the spirits, holding his own, more complex talisman up to protect himself. As he did, the boys jumped down from the back of the truck and moved to stand by the doors as their teacher had asked.

The middle aged man held the talisman he had forth and began focusing his spiritual power. A a white glow began forming around him that only others with spiritual senses could see. Beginning a chant in his native language, the newly revealed Shaman began addressing the spirits before him.

"**Oh wandering Spirits, what is it that disturbs you? Why are you wandering around with such anger?"**

Unfortunately for him, John O'Neill happened to be right in that these spirits were not in a talkative mood. Nor were they just any wandering spirits, and they couldn't really understand him anyway, much less speak. Instead they just attacked, their spectral claws ripping into the man's own soul.

"What the!?", the Shaman wheezed as he stepped back from the advancing creatures. "I can't get through to them?" He almost dropped his talisman, barely managing to hold onto it. Meanwhile both John and Ryo, who both just happened to have enough Spiritual awareness to see it all, moved forward a little to stand a half meter diagonally in front of the truck's front bumper, holding their own talismans up. Lisa also saw what happened and came out of the truck, moving to a position between the two boys, also holding her talisman.

"Pop, no!", she shouted with some concern, even though she and her father didn't usually get along. Ryo, seeing what could happen, moved a little in front of her, while John did the same. "John, Mr. Lightbird's in trouble!" Ryo shouted. "I see that!" the other boy replied, just as concerned. All in a moment as Henry backed away from the oncoming spirits, each of the young people could suddenly see one or more creatures of different colors in their minds and hear their calls.

"John O'Neill saw the image of a great bird with flaming red plumage and he could almost swear that actual fire streamed off of it's wing's trailing edges. He heard a cry typical of a bird of prey and the sound of thunder.

"Ryo Urawa saw and heard two creatures. The first was something like a small wolf with unusual blue fur, and which howled up at the sky. The second was a yellow scaled humanoid lizard with unusually strong and agile limbs and a powerful jaw, and inexplicably, no neck, wearing a silver breastplate. It was also armed with what appeared to be outsized swiss army knives where it's lower arms and hands should be. It called out one word Ryo could not quite hear.

Lisa Lightbird saw a small brownish yellow furred creature with long ears and legs, a hare, swift and agile. It made no sound.

As their individual visions faded, the talismans in the young peoples hands flashed and changed from their black, white and gray colorations into the same colors as the creatures they had seen. Two shades of red for John, blue and yellow for Ryo, and two shades of yellow for Lisa. After the talismans had changed, the kids found that they were now attached to their wrists. Furthermore each could have sworn that they could hear a voice call out to them in their heads. _**"Now call out! Spirit Warrior Power!"**_

At first they didn't believe what they were 'hearing', but John O'Neill, knowing that he had to do something, decided to take the chance.

"Spirit Warrior Power!" he shouts. Suddenly John feels a great flow of energy through his body as he is surrounded by a red spectral light. When it faded his clothing had changed. He was now dressed in a dark red version of a military BDU (Battle Dress Uniform), over which was of all things a dark robe with a hood. In his belt is what appears to be a combat knife in a sheath.

Having witnessed O'Neill's transformation, Ryo also decides to take the chance, shouting the words. He feels the same surge of power and change of clothing. Only in his case he is dressed in a blue Hakama with it's surcoat. On his belt is a small hook holding a high grade Swiss Army Knife.

Finally Lisa calls out her transformation and in a flash is dressed in the traditional garb of the Shamans of her father's people, only these garments are yellow. She is armed with a stone knife with a bone handle.

By this time John had started advancing toward the creatures with almost too much confidence for someone so young, as if he had been in combat before. Before he could reach the old man he was confronted by two of the bird/wolf/serpent things, hooked bony claws poised to slash at him. Ryo saw his new friend in trouble and moved to help him, swiss army knife at the ready. Lisa hung back, not really knowing these guys, moving more toward the left, toward her father.

John had just manged to dodge the first attack of his adversaries while Ryo moved up and awkwardly caught the attack of one of them on his knife. This gave the other boy just enough time to draw his own combat knife and block another attack. Henry Lightbird meanwhile was busy blocking the attacks of three other of the monsters with his talisman. He had not yet noticed the kid's transformations.

Lisa was still hesitant. She did not really know what to do. This was too dangerous for some kids and an older man, wasn't it. Shouldn't they run away? Still, her father was in trouble. A moment later the decision was made for her as three more of the things caught up to her and forced her to use the stone knife she had to defend herself.

By now John and Ryo were dealing with five of the fiends and had to stand almost back to back to hold them off as they were surrounded. Henry was also surrounded, and he didn't have the recourse to either weapon or martial arts. Ironically it was Lisa who managed the first telling blow, as her knife connected with one of the opponent's bone like appendages during a wild swing. To her surprise the blade actually hurt it a bit, causing the thing to stumble back, giving her a little breathing room. Still the boys were on their own as she didn't thing to tell them the observation. John in a desperate move tried to tackle one of Ryo and his opponents, managing to push it back just enough for the other boy to stab at it. Like Lisa Ryo found his weapon effective on the things.

"John, Use your knife! It should work on them!" he shouted. Quickly the O'Neill boy tried Ryo's suggestion and nodded as the thing groaned in pain. "Alright!" he shouted. "Now let's do this!" Both boys continued striking with their weapons, alternating with defense and fists when they had to. Henry Lightbird however was still stuck on pure defense, and was on the verge of being knocked down.

* * *

Meanwhile in another dimension connected tangentially to the Spirit Realm, several pair of eyes were watching what was happening on a kind of spiritual viewing screen, which was more like a viewing spell.

"What is this!?", one of the beings, watching the events bellowed. "Humans able to fight the Primals! Who are they!?"

"I don't know my lord." another, squeakier voice said. "Perhaps you should send a ModSoul Monster after them?"

"No, it would be a waste at this point." the first voice replied.

"He's right." a sinister female voice added. "It would be a waste of precious spirit energy."

"I don't really know about that." yet another male, feral sounding voice said. "The way they're fighting reminds me of something."

"I'd be careful if were you Lord Toskarat." a second female voice added. One of them definitely looks like he could be a Soul Reaper, although he seems to be quite inexperienced."

"One of your kind Hinamori?" the being now known as Toskarat asked. "I'll take your advice under consideration. For now let's watch what unfolds."

* * *

One of the creatures now known as Primals took as swing at Henry Lightbird and knocked him down, putting him in an awkward position. He now prayed almost desperately to the Great Spirit and his Guardian Spirit. It seems that they had heard him for in his mind's eye he suddenly saw his Guardian Spirit, which took the form of a white stag braying out a challenge call. Immediately his talisman started glowing and transferred itself to his wrist, while his clothes changed to a white version of his Shaman Clothes. He was now armed with a wooden staff with a crystal set in the head. Swinging the staff tho block one of the Primal's sickle blows, he found that it easily smashed the creature's claw, making it cry out in pain. Another Primal aimed a body blow at him, but he was able to block it with the other end of the staff, although not without cost as the impact jarred Henry's arm, making him wince.

John and Ryo were now able to hold their own with the creatures, trading blows and steadily wearing the things down. Lisa was practically in a stalemate with her three foes. They were the ones wearing her down. Henry had managed to get up, but was likewise in a standoff with his foes.

"Man, we need to find a weak spot on these things or something!" John commented.

"No kidding!" Ryo answered. "This is tiring!"

The two boys had no time for more talking as they were busy defending themselves. Lisa managed another wild shot across one of the Primal's faces, causing it to drop back, covering it's head. This allowed her just enough of an opening to rush through. She fully intended to get away and get help, but the other two creatures wouldn't allow that. Instead they forced her between themselves and the three creatures fighting her father. Thus she wound up right beside him. The good thing about this was it allowed the two of them to guard each other. This turned out to be necessary as the Primal Lisa had injured had recovered itself, taking a swing at her back, which Henry saw and intercepted just in time, although it further jarred his injured arm.

Now the group was fighting in two pairs with the boys against five Primals and with Lisa and Henry versus six. The battle could go either way unless the Humans could find a way to defeat the monsters. It was Ryo who eventually found it, as he just so happened to stab his swiss army knife between the jaws of one of the things just as it was taking a bite at him. (Although he risked losing the hand in doing so.) The blade hit a pale green glowing sphere of energy within the thing's head and by some property in the knife, the energy was dissipated. A moment later the Primal itself collapsed and disappeared.

"In the mouth!" Ryo shouted. "That's their weakness!"

"You have got to be kidding! Through those jaws!" John replied as he dodged a bite from his opponent. Henry and Lisa overheard Ryo's shout, and Henry tried out the young man's suggestion, aiming staff blows at the things' heads whenever he could. It was Lisa though who made the first kill on their side, finding that a stab through the eye was just as good a one through the mouth.

"The eyes work too!" she shouted to her father. John heard her and nodded to himself. That was more reasonable than trying to get through the teeth. He stabbed at the eye socket of one of the Primals that Ryo was distracting at the time. A third one down! Eight to go!. Now only facing one creature between them, the boys could now double team it. While John punched the thing where it's stomach would be if it had one, Ryo took the mouth shot while it was screaming. Another down, seven to go!. Now they could look to helping out Lisa and her father. In a moment they were upon the creatures assailing the two, attacking them from behind. This distracted two of the monsters enough for Henry to bash through one's skull, destroying it and for Lisa to take down the other. Five left.

Now the odds were more even. With the boys harassing the Primals from behind and the others attacking from the front, soon two more joined their compatriots in non-existence. One of the remaining three tried to turn around and face the boys, only to have John's knife stuck in it's eye socket, destroying it. A few moments later the last two were taken down and the battle was over.

"Whew! What in the world were those things, really?" John asked panting as everybody's transformations faded away, leaving them in their normal clothing. "

"Hostile Spirits, like I told you before." Henry Lightbird answered, rubbing his injured arm. "I don't know why they're attacking the Living though."

"Well, they kind of looked like some ancient Egyptian things. I wonder. Nah.", John added.

"What do you mean by that?" Lisa asked.

"Like some big bad or something might be controlling them or something?" John answered her.

"That may be possible. I have heard tales from my ancestors of such things. It would explain what happened here."

"Who?" Lisa asked further.

"An Elder Shaman or someone else with enough Spirit Power.", Mr. Lightbird said. "This person would either have to be quite evil or truly believe they were doing the right thing, even though it was wrong."

"I've heard stories like that too." Ryo added. "There are legends of certain powerful beings with such abilities in my homeland. I don't remember the details though."

"I don't know what is going on any more than the three of you do." Henry said. "I'll have to meditate on this."

* * *

Over in the tangential dimension, the Spirit Lord Toskarat roared, "What!? How is this possible!?", as he witnessed the three youngsters and their teacher defeat the Primals he had sent to the Living World.

"I guess they were indeed a bit stronger than your normal Humans." Hinamori, the woman in the Soul Reaper garb commented.

"Like I suggested before, perhaps we should have sent one of my ModSoul monsters down when the fighting started." a short figure with a white face, whiskers and a squeaky voice added.

"I should go myself to stop them before they become any stronger, if they're what I think they are!", a winged monkey-cat hybrid snarled.

"Really Goldar?" a woman with red hair and eyes in a somewhat skimpy purple dress, and with claws on her hands remarked. "You think they're some kind of 'Power Rangers', like you keep going on about? Like the ones who defeated your former masters?"

"Silence Beryl!", Lord Toskarat bellowed. "Whether or not they're 'Power Rangers', or anything else, the Primals will defeat them next time. Even if it takes all of them!"

The monkey/cat being now known as Goldar shook his head slightly. He thought that Lord Toskarat was making a big mistake. If he knew anything, it was that the Power Rangers were always stronger than any villain thought at first.

* * *

Back at the battle site, just as Mr. Lightbird, his daughter and the boys were piling back into the truck to continue their journey home, they didn't notice that there was yet another spirit watching them.

"_I'm sorry children.",_ the spirit thought to himself. _"A new evil is indeed rising, and there was no other way. I know that your lives have been hard up until now. But it was those very hardships that have given and will give you the strength to do what now must be done. My thoughts and prayers will be with you Rangers."

* * *

_

Next Time: Four Lives, Impact

Author's note: In this story I am using two incidental characters from Stargate SG 1 and the Sailor Moon Anime as two of the new Rangers, giving them the chance to be the heroes they were never allowed to be in their respective canons The other two Rangers are OC's. My main villain is an OC as well, although the other villains are drawn from old Power Rangers shows, the Sailor Moon Anime, and Bleach. (As are certain story elements.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Power Rangers Indomitable Spirit**

**By Talanane

* * *

**

The following is a work of Fanfiction. This means that it contains some characters, items, locations and other things that I neither own nor have the rights to. It also means that I never have and never will make any money off of these works.

* * *

**Episode Two: Four Lives, Impact**

Location: In front of the Lightbird home.

Henry Lightbird had some trouble driving home, due to the pain in his arm. It was fortunate that he didn't have an accident on the way. Finally, he made it and with a slight groan, he pulled up in his driveway and opened the driver's side door. Lisa, although she usually didn't care too much about other people, she couldn't help but notice his pain.

"Hey Pops? Are you okay?" she asked.

"Mostly.", Henry told her. "I just need to rest for a while."

"Okay, sure.", Lisa replied, not entirely believing him.

As Henry and his daughter got out of the truck, the boys were already standing on either side of the bed, taking out Lisa's suitcases. Having gotten them, they stood by waiting for their teacher to open the door to the house. In a few moments, Henry and his daughter proceeded to the front step, and the two boys followed at a discreet distance. A couple of minutes later the door was open and the teacher motioned for everyone to come inside.

"Excuse me, where do you want these?", Ryo asked as he and John came through the doorway.

"Oh, you can leave them in the first room off the hall there.", Henry said, gesturing toward said hallway with his good arm, as by now his injury was quite obvious to everyone.

"Are you sure you're all right sir?", Ryo asked.

"Like I said, I just need a little rest.", Mr Lightbird replied.

"It seems like that would hurt like a bitch to me.", John said. "I think you should at least see a doctor."

"I'll take care of it boys.", Henry replied, as he once again gestured toward the hall. Since Mr. Lightbird didn't give them a choice, they went ahead and delivered Lisa's luggage into the spare bedroom. After they did that and returned, the teacher simply told them to go home.

* * *

When Ryo got home, he found his mother, a still attractive middle aged woman taking down the last of the laundry that had been handing on the clothesline and placing it in a basket.

"Oh hello Ryo Kun.", his mother said. "You're quite late today. I was beginning to worry."

"I'm sorry Mother, but our history teacher asked a couple of us to stay and help him with something today. Well, unfortunately Mr. Lightbird got a little hurt and had to go home."

"Oh, dear, I hope he's going to be all right.", Ryo's mother said.

"Well, he should have gone to the doctor, but he was being a 'little reluctant', let's say.", Ryo told her.

"He's like that?", his mother replied.

"He's Native American and says he's a Shaman, or 'Medicine Man', and probably believes he can treat himself.", the young man told her.

The middle aged woman shrugged and said. "What can I say? You cannot deny someone their own beliefs."

"True.", Ryo answered.

"By the way dear, can you take this into the house for me?", his mother asked. "I have to get dinner started soon."

"All right Mother.", he told har and took the laundry basket from her. And since this happened to be a load of bed sheets, he went ahead and put them away in the linen closet. After doing that he went into his own room and placed his school backpack on the old card table that served as his desk. Then sitting down on his old second hand bed, he took out the altered God's Eye talisman that Mr. Lightbird had given him and took a good look at it. He knew from his studies that it was a common talisman often used in the southwestern part of the United States by both the Native and Hispanic populations. Now he sensed that this particular one had become something more. Well in his hands it was. Then again he knew that he himself was not a normal Human Being, and never had been. He didn't know or at least remember why that was. Only that he wasn't. Normal people didn't have vague, but often accurate glimpses of possible future events at random. He did.

Then he thought about his new friends and surmised that they might not be all that normal either. Mr. Lightbird for instance had admitted to being a Shaman, for instance, and maybe his daughter Lisa had some of the same abilities. John O'Neill on the other hand, what was he? What made him special? Ryo couldn't even speculate. Shaking his head and dismissing the thought, Ryo put the talisman away and paused a moment, hoping that Mr. Lightbird would be all right. After that he got up and went over to his makeshift desk to start his homework.

At about the same time, John O'Neill was having much the same sort of thoughts. He too wondered why a simple God's Eye talisman could have so much power. But he was more worried about Mr. Lightbird's condition and whatever those things were that had attacked them. _"Just what kind of Aliens were they?"_. He thought of them as aliens because he didn't quite believe in spirits, not like that anyway. That was mostly due to his 'past', which he had never told anyone about, for various reasons. In fact he was tempted to call up certain people that he 'knew' and ask them to investigate. Then he shook his head and thought to himself. _"No, I don't want to do that if I don't have to. Even if it seems that I'm 'Getting back in the Game', as it were." _Having made his decision, he too put his talisman away, but he didn't start his homework, not yet.

* * *

Over at the Lightbird house, Lisa was in a less than satisfactory mood due to the recent changes that had essentially turned her life upside down. Only a few days ago she had been living a more or less stable existence with her mother, even if said parent hadn't been around much. Then it had been decided that she was to be uprooted and sent to live with Henry, her supposed father, far away from the few friends she had. Then to top it off she had just as suddenly been drawn into a battle with what were supposedly disturbed spirits, and given powers to do it with to boot. Finally she had an old man with what might be a serious arm injury, who stubbornly refused to go to the Hospital. So it was no surprise that Lisa was on edge.

"What's the deal with these 'Spirit', things anyway Pops?", Henry's daughter almost shouted. "So, you're supposed to be this 'Shaman' thing and talk to ghosts? But why? Why does this have to happen to me!?"

"Like I said earlier, those Spirits were disturbed. Probably by something the 'White man has done or is doing to the Earth.", Henry told her.

"You keep saying that!", Lisa snapped back. "Didn't that one guy think they were being controlled by something!?"

"Yes, one of the boys did say something like that.", the teacher admitted. "That is a possibility."

"Great, just great!", his daughter shouted. "Some evil Overlord's ghost or something is mad at people for messing up the world and sending monsters to get revenge? Sounds just like those 'Power Rangers' stories that went around when I was a little kid! Next I suppose that you're going to say that we're going to be the next batch of Power Rangers! Good grief! Not me!", she finished and stormed off back to her room.

Mr. Lightbird sighed. _"Lisa, I know that it hasn't been easy for you since your mother and I split. Especially now since she's been so ill. I'm sorry about what happened today, but if we are indeed destined to be the Power Rangers as you suggest, we are all going to have to accept it."_

_

* * *

  
_

In yet another realm, a few of what to some would be known as Ascended Beings were having a discussion about the recent events taking place on Earth, particularly those regarding Toskarat and the young people who had fought his minions.

"I personally agree with Zordon's assessment of the situation.", a female entity known as Oma DeSala stated. "Although it is true that he 'bent' the rules a little, his interference was quite minimal, and quite justified, given Toskarat's own interference in the Mortal plane."

"Maybe that is true, and indeed I will allow that Toskarat did overstep his bounds in sending his minions to the world of the Living." an Alteran Elder stated. "It isn't like Zordon destroyed the Primals himself. Still, he did bestow abilities to these young people that Mortals do not usually possess."

"These 'powers' as you put are, and always were within them, as with all Power Rangers.", Zordon himself supplied. "I only allowed them the means to access them."

"Which Is in fact less than what I have done in the past.", another female known as Serenity stated. "In fact one of the young people in this newest 'Ranger' group is one whose current state I myself am indirectly responsible for."

"You were still 'mortal' when that happened." the 'elder' said., "and therefore we cannot censure you for that. Very well, we will allow what Zordon has done, but he is to do nothing else. Any powers that these mortals now have, they are to discover and unlock on their own, as do all mortals."

The other three ascended beings, Oma, Zordon, and Serenity, were not entirely happy with this, but they knew that the Others would hold them to this. As the elder faded away elsewhere, they did the same.

* * *

The next morning at the home where John O'Neill was staying with his host family, the young man awoke, shaking off the last of a particularly unusual dream. In it he and the others had been surrounded by Primals as well as a number of warriors in ornate armor who carried staves which fired bolts of energy. He shook his head as the combination of opponents did not make sense, unless of course they were involved. "Naah!", he said out loud, dismissing the possibility for now. He did know that he needed to talk to the others, especially Mr. Lightbird about what was going on. Looking over at the clock he noticed that it was still only 6:15 in the morning, way to early to call or visit. Besides that, John was new in town and didn't even have anybody's phone number, much less their addresses. Sighing the young man threw the covers off his bed, stretched, and then got up to go to the bathroom.

* * *

At the Urawa's apartment, Ryo and his family were seated at the breakfast table. On this particular day of the week breakfast time was an important occasion, since it was one of the few times when they would be all together at the same time. This was mostly due to his father's job as a traveling consultant for... Well Ryo didn't really know what his father did, but it was probably important. At least the elder Urawa's travel schedule wasn't as bad as it would have been a couple of years ago. Back then Ryo's father was almost never at home and they would have to move at least a couple times a month. Now according to his father, this current assignment in America was relatively long term and they probably wouldn't be moving again for the rest of the year or maybe even two. Ryo himself might even have the chance to graduate High School before they had to leave this time.

"Well Ryo, how are things at school?", Mr. Urawa asked his son. "Have you made any friends yet?"

"Yes Father.", the young man replied simply. He then gave the names and a brief description of John, Mr. Lightbird and his daughter.

"Didn't you say that your teacher had an accident when you were working on some sort of project or something?"

"Yes.", the young man replied. "In fact I was thinking on checking in on them today."

"I see.", his father said back. "Just be careful out there, okay?"

"Yes father.", Ryo replied.

* * *

By the time Ryo reached the street in front of the Lightbird house, he saw that an ambulance was just pulling away from the curb, sirens wailing. It was likely that this meant that his teacher's condition had indeed been much worse than he had let on. John, who had arrived a while earlier confirmed this.

"He looked pretty bad to me.", the O'Neill boy told him.

"Did Lisa say anything?", Ryo asked him.

"No, but she sure did look out of sorts.", John told him. "I don't know about you, but something sure bugs me."

Ryo said nothing but nodded. In an unspoken agreement both boys began to make their way toward Prairie City Hospital.

Next Time: Episode Three, A 'Fine' Day.1

* * *

Author's Note: Did you ever notice that in some cases, such as when you upload chapters in odt. format, you have to go in and fix the formatting manually? Document manager just doesn't keep the scene separator lines and paragraph indents.


	3. Chapter 3

**Power Rangers Indomitable Spirit**

**By Talanane**

**

* * *

**

The following is a work of Fanfiction. This means that it contains some characters, items, locations and other things that I neither own nor have the rights to. It also means that I never have and never will make any money off of these works.

* * *

**Episode Three: A 'Fine' Day.**

Location: Lobby of Prairie City Hospital

John and Ryo were both waiting for news of Mr. Lightbird's condition. Or rather for Lisa to come out and tell them, if she would. The hospital staff wouldn't because neither of them were family members. It was a long wait and wearying, especially for John who didn't much like waiting. Ryo on the other hand just spent the time studying, even if he already had finished his homework the previous evening.

"You actually brought your books here?" John said.

"Better than being bored," the other boy replied.

"Don't you have any hobbies or other things you could do?" John asked.

"Well, sorry but they wouldn't let me bring my computer into the hospital," Ryo answered.

"Whatever," John said, getting up and going to get some water, or anything to relieve his boredom, only to almost run into Lisa."

"Wha.. Oh sorry I didn't see you!" he almost shouted.

Lisa stopped short and mumbled, "S'okay."

"Ah, what did they say was wrong with your dad?" the boy asked.

"Uh," Lisa replied, looking up at him, having been partially lost in her own thoughts. "Oh, that? They think it's some kind of infection, or something."

"That's what you get for leaving it," John said. "Even I know that."

Lisa didn't know what else to say, or even wanted to. The two of them would have stood there awkwardly for the next few minutes if there hadn't been an orderly coming through the hall with a gurney, who had to stop and tell them to clear the way. They did so, returning to the waiting room.

There was little else the three of them could do, so they left the hospital and went home. The doctors must not have thought Mr. Lightbird's condition life threatening or very serious, because he was right there in class on Monday. His left arm was bound up in a sling and obviously of little use to him, but that didn't mean he couldn't teach.

"Well, I guess all of you heard that I had a little accident," he said, looking at the expression on some of the student's faces. "That doesn't mean I'm letting you off easy now," he continued looking around the room. "That means you Mr. Delt."

"Aw Man!" Benny Delt said with a slightly dejected look that told everyone that he obviously hadn't done his homework. "Now one other thing. We have a new student joining us today, again," Mr. Lightbird added, gesturing with his good arm toward Lisa, who was standing in the front corner of the room waiting. "This is my daughter, Lisa Lightbird, who will be with us while her mother is out of state on business."

"Hello," Lisa said in a moderately low tone.

A few students greeted her back, although some didn't really care.

"Well now, let's see," the teacher said. "Where to put her?" Henry considered for a moment and then saw an empty seat next to another girl. "Oh, I guess you can sit there, between Mr. O'Neill and Miss Shivers then," he said.

"Whatever," Lisa replied, taking her new seat.

"Hello," the girl in the seat next to her said, holding out her hand. "My name's Talia. Talia Shivers."

Lisa only mumbled a bit, not bothering to introduce herself back, since her father had already introduced her to the class. Talia simply shrugged before Mr. Lightbird interrupted, calling the students back to order.

"Now everybody turn in the worksheets I asked you to complete last week and open your books to page 226."

* * *

After class, Henry once again asked John and Ryo to stay, reminding them that they had to go to the Town Hall this afternoon, due to the ticket he had gotten the previous Friday. Since it so happened that John had gotten his license when he moved to Prairie City, he drove the truck, with Mr. Lightbird seated between him and Lisa. Ryo was obliged to follow on his bicycle, since he hadn't gotten his license yet. This meant that John and the others had to wait for him a few minutes before going into the Town Hall, but eventually all of them presented themselves at the County Clerk's office. It also just so happened that the female officer who had given Henry the ticket was there. She looked over at him, dimly remembering him, although not too clearly. Henry remembered her more clearly and was just a bit irritated by it, as if the irritation from his injured arm was not enough.

"Number Sixty Seven!" a clerk at one of the service windows called out. "Number Sixty Seven!"

Henry started, realizing that his number had been called. He and the boys got up and went to the window, where the clerk acknowledged them and read off the paperwork.

"Ah, one of you must be Henry Lightbird, correct?" the clerk asked.

Henry nodded, confirming his identity by showing his drivers license. The clerk looked at it and then at the man's face and nodded back.

"It says here that you owe a $250 fine for allowing passengers to ride unrestrained. Is that right?"

Henry nodded again, handing the clerk the ticket. The county employee took it and checked off a box, then asked, "How would you like to pay, cash, check or credit?"

The teacher, being somewhat of an 'old fashioned' sort in some things, pulled out five fifty dollar bills and handed them to the clerk. The man behind the counter nodded and checked off another box on the form and then handed the clipboard it was on to Henry for him to sign it. Just as he finished doing so everybody in the room heard someone scream.

"What the Hell are those things!?" whoever it was shouted. "Hey, No, Don't!" At the same time as the voice screamed, Ryo got one of those feelings that told him that something was definitely wrong. He, along with John left the window and went to see what it was. The female officer, Greta Sloane, left right behind them, following her training as a Police person.

Lisa however hesitated. Like before she was unsure of herself, and besides her father needed her. That was the excuse she made to herself, even as both she and her father felt the darkness outside.

* * *

Meanwhile John, Ryo and Greta reached the loading zone outside the town hall to find a group of the same creatures as before attacking innocent civilians. One of the Primals had a claw sunk into one poor man who had been in a wheelchair before the creature had gotten to him. However the claw left no visible wound, instead there was a slight crackling sound and a nimbus of blue wavy energy around the part of the claw that was still visible. Still the poor guy had taken on a pale gray appearance as if in shock. Other Primals were doing the same, and there were a number of other victims who were in the same condition as the one man. Needless to say, the boys and the officer were shocked and dismayed at the display. To Ryo, the scene seemed to be awfully familiar, like something he had either seen or at least heard of before. John was just and justifiably enraged at at what was happening. Officer Sloane reacted as she was trained to. Stepping out in front of the two teenagers while ordering them to go back inside, she drew her sidearm with one hand and her radio with the other.

"**Headquarters, headquarters!"** she spoke into the mouthpiece as she pointed her pistol at one of the spirits. **"We have a situation at the Town Hall! Some weird things are assaul,"** she managed to get out before one of the Primals that were advancing toward the group struck her too, while the boys could only dodge out of the way. (All of this took place within a few seconds, before John and Ryo could even think of activating their talismans.) She went down as well, taking on the same ashen gray appearance as the other victims.

Back inside the Town Hall, Lisa was still unsure of what to do, not really wanting to be involved yet at the same time knowing the two boys were out there, in danger fighting those things. It was her father who tipped the balance, saying.

"I'll be all right Lisa.", he told her.

"But.", the girl replied.

"I'll be fine.", the teacher/shaman said. "You just go out there and do what you have to do."

Lisa would have sassed back, but the look on her father's face prevented it. Sighing in resignation, she made her way out of the Clerk's office and moved toward the front of the building, where the noises were coming from.

When she arrived, it was quite clear that the others indeed needed her help. At the moment they were quite busy dodging and the Primals' attacks as best they could. So busy that they didn't have a spare moment to call upon their powers, much less fight back or protect the unconscious civilians. John was faring a little better than Ryo, showing the same surprising combat savvy that he had in the previous battle, and had fewer bruises and scratches to show for it. Lisa, seeing what was going on, fumbled for the talisman she had under her shirt, saying to herself, _"Okay, let's get this over with."_

It took a moment, but she managed to get her God's Eye out and hold it up, and attempted to shout the activation phrase. "Spirit, Spirit, something power!" Unfortunately since she didn't remember the whole thing, and since she didn't really have to will, it didn't work. However her shouting did get the attention of some of the Primals, as well as the two boys trying to avoid their attacks. Those creatures that heard turned their focus toward her, taking pressure off John and Ryo and buying them enough time to call on their own talismans.

"Spirit Warrior Power!", the boys shouted out almost in unison, and in a flash they were in their respective individual battle costumes, their weapons in hand. They couldn't help Lisa immediately since they still had a few Primals in front of them. Thus it was her turn to desperately dodge and block the monsters' attacks, which she did with some success, only getting a few bumps and scratches.

* * *

In the tangential dimension, a kind of silent alarm tripped, alerting the being whom Lord Toskarat left in charge of the Primals' current mission to the possibility of interference.

"What!? Them again!" Beryl exclaimed as she activated the viewing spell, seeing the same kids as before fighting the Primals. Then she noticed that the girl that was with them before wasn't there this time. Instead there was this civilian girl desperately trying to avoid the the creatures' grasp. Beryl also noticed that the boys were having a harder time than during the previous battle, since there were more Primals overall than there were the last time.

"Well, it seems that there's nothing to really worry about," she commented as she turned the viewing spell off.

"_Don't be so sure about that Beryl."_, the winged hybrid of monkey and cat known as Goldar thought to himself as he watched from the shadows. _"I'll just go and have a little talk with Finster, just in case."_

_

* * *

_

Meanwhile, John and Ryo had managed to take down three of the Primals between them after Beryl had stopped looking. For Lisa the scratches and bumps were adding up and she was getting tired of it. In a surge of anger she once again grabbed her talisman which was hanging by a lanyard around her neck and this time shouted the correct words, her irritation powering the transformation. Finally in her yellowish brown shaman's costume, she stabbed her stone knife at the nearest creature, hitting it squarely in the eye, destroying it.

"I see someone finally decided to join us," John commented as he saw Lisa's transformation out of the corner of his eye. Ryo didn't reply as he was busy taking down another Primal. A half second later John just barely fended off a claw strike from another, the price of taking his attention off the battle for that amount of time. Lisa was still taking a few bumps, but was now giving as good as she got. Ryo took down the Primal that had clawed at John, earning a thanks from the other boy. Lisa rolled to avoid a bite from one of those fighting her, ending up a little closer to the two boys in the process. She also incidentally managed to roll into a pair of the creatures that were between her and them, making the Primals stumble and fall over, one of them landing half on her in an embarrassing position.

"Get off me!" she shouted as she pushed at the thing on top of her with a rage fueled burst of strength. At about the same time John and Ryo managed to reach her, with John dispatching the other Primal that she had accidentally tripped. Lisa scrambled back onto her feet as fast as she could, stabbing the first creature in the vulnerable spot under it's jaw, destroying it.

"That's it!" the girl shouted as she finished standing up. "I didn't want to do this!" she added as she pushed ahead of the two boys essaying a stab at another Primal's eye socket, forcing John and Ryo to keep up with her and guard her back when she missed.

"_Reckless,"_ John thought to himself in his combat experienced mind while blocking the claw swipe of one of the creatures. Ryo, although not experienced, had similar thoughts as he dispatched the thing. _"Not a team player, is she?" _A moment later another one blocked Lisa's charge, knocking her back down while another one almost managed to stick it's claw through her before John deflected it, getting a deep gash in the process. "Ow!" he huffed as he slammed his lower leg into one of it's legs in response.

"You all right!?" Ryo asked as he bashed another Primal away from the others.

"Nicked my pride a little!" John replied as he managed to destroy the offending creature.

"That's all!?" Ryo said as he blocked an attack.

"That's all!" John agreed as he took down a Primal.

Lisa smashed the hilt of her knife into one of the creature's heads staggering it, and then reversing the blade she stabbed it through the nose, putting it down. John hit another one, with not so spectacular results but it was enough for Ryo to finish it.

Now that the pack had been thinned quite a bit, the odds were quite a bit better for the trio. That doesn't mean the rest of the battle was going to be easy, especially since the kids were now beginning to tire. Still in about ninety more seconds, they had done away with two more, making the odds nearly even. Twenty five seconds after that, the remaining creatures were destroyed.

"Uh, I'm glad that's over with!" John said, panting for breath.

"Really!" Lisa replied, wiping the sweat from her brow. As the adrenalin from the battle faded, their battle costumes faded away back into their normal clothes, which were undamaged. Their rest was interrupted by various groans coming from the civilians as they began regaining consciousness.

"Uhh! What happened!?" officer Greta Sloane moaned as she pushed herself up from the pavement. "The last thing I remember was, was, calling Headquarters? What's going on?"

"Gee, I don't know officer," John lied as he went to help her up. "We were coming out of the Town Hall when I saw, something. The next thing I knew I was on the ground waking up."

"I think, I don't know, are you okay?" officer Sloane asked him.

"Only a few bumps from the fall." John lied again, keeping up the cover story.

Meanwhile Ryo was seeing to the man in the wheelchair, checking for injuries. Incredibly there were was no physical evidence that he was ever attacked, although when asked he complained a little about being 'tired' and 'blacking out'.

"Maybe you should go see your doctor?" Ryo suggested.

The wheelchair bound man nodded, saying. "Well, maybe I will."

As for Lisa, she wasn't doing much, only standing around out of the way, as if she didn't care once the battle was over. The truth was that she was suffering, and had been suffering from the mental and emotional overload due to the events of the past few days. That and the fact that she was indeed a little selfish at times due to her upbringing, or lack thereof. John, who had finished his conversation with Officer Sloane, happened to glance over and see her doing nothing.

"What the heck are you..?" he started to say before seeing the look on her face. He knew that look from his memories of his 'other life', the one he had not lived. He stopped in the middle of his previous question and instead asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

She didn't answer right away, only hugging herself and starting to cry. John would have gone over to hold her a bit, only he didn't really know her well enough yet. Instead he just put a hand on her shoulder and said. "This must have been hard on you, huh?"

"I just. I just want to go 'home'. I want things to be normal again," Lisa grumbled just on the edge of hearing.

"_Definitely Post Traumatic Stress," _John thought to himself.

* * *

For the second time in half an hour the silent alarm on the viewing spell tripped, waking Beryl from her nap. She was irritated from being interrupted, and even more so when she noticed the energy feed from the mortal world had ceased.

"What the?" she asked irritatedly. "Could those kids have?" Angrily she reactivated the viewing spell and quickly saw that the Primals were nowhere to be seen, and furthermore their victims seemed to be recovering.

"Grr!" she spat at the sphere. She was all too familiar with the rage that built as her, or in this case Lord Toskarat's minions failed. She turned angrily and almost ran into Goldar, who was smirking and looked almost like he wanted to laugh.

"What's with you?!" Beryl snarled.

"Well well, what do we have here?" the feline/simian asked rhetorically. "Did the Rangers win?" Beryl didn't answer but her expression told Goldar what he wanted to know.

"I expected as much," he said. "Those Rangers were always tougher than Zedd, Rita or any of them expected."

"So what would you do?" she replied sarcastically.

"You'll see Beryl, you'll see."

* * *

Henry Lightbird emerged from Prairie City Town Hall just in time to see Ryo helping the wheelchair bound man. He didn't immediately see John or his daughter with him, but assumed they were doing something similar not far away. As the young man finished what he was doing and turned, he saw his teacher and spoke.

"Oh, Mr. Lightbird," Ryo said. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine Ryo," the teacher replied. "How about the three of you?"

"We're a little beat up," the student answered honestly, "but alive." Mr. Lightbird nodded, expecting something like this after what happened to him the last time. Ryo continued saying. "I'm more worried about something else."

"Which is?" Henry asked.

"The victims sir," Ryo stated. "I noticed that none of them seemed to be hurt. Not physically anyway. Yet they were unconscious."

Mr. Lightbird had a serious look for a moment, as if he was thinking. Then he said. "It may be that those creatures, those spirits, can attack the spirits of others."

Ryo nodded, agreeing with the assessment. "Yes, it seems so. In fact the way the people looked before they woke up. It was familiar somehow, like."

"Like what?" the teacher asked.

"I don't know Sensei," the boy replied. "I can't quite remember."

Henry Lightbird was a little puzzled by his student's response. "You want to say you've seen something like this before, but you don't know where?"

"Yes Sir, that's it." Ryo answered.

Mr. Lightbird let the topic drop for now, instead going to look for John and Lisa.

* * *

Next Episode: This Guy's Strong, Ranger Up, 'Release'!

Author's Note: Well, it only took me about two weeks to finish this episode. (I've been playing Final Fantasy XIII lately, among other things.)

To my reviewer Liron-Aria. No, Ryo did not lose his precognitive ability when the Nijizhishou/Rainbow Crystal was removed from him, nor when Sailor Moon resealed the Yoma that was within him. In a later episode when Beryl tasks the brainwashed Mamoru/Prince Endymion with recapturing the former crystal carriers, she states that there was one more chance to bring back their powers, meaning said powers were not lost. As for the answers to why Ryo seems to have two Guardian Spirits and Lisa Lightbird's Ranger color, those would be two major spoilers at this point. Concerning the appearances of either former Rangers or the Sailor Senshi/Scouts, well that won't be revealed until about mid-season.

By the way, I do appreciate your advice concerning the use of commas in quotes.

Cordially: Talanane.


	4. Chapter 4

**Power Rangers Indomitable Spirit**

**By Talanane

* * *

**

The following is a work of Fanfiction. This means that it contains some characters, items, locations and other things that I neither own nor have the rights to. It also means that I never have and never will make any money off of these works.

* * *

**Episode Four: This Guy's Strong, Ranger Up, Release.  
**

Location: Ryo's home.

When Ryo got home that evening, his mother was waiting with dinner. "You're late again son. Did you have to work on that project again?"

"Yes," the young man answered simply. As he passed by her to drop off his school stuff in his room his mother turned to him and stopped him adding, "How's Mr. Lightbird doing?"

"He's fine Mother," Ryo replied. "He wasn't hurt that badly. He just has a little infection."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," his mother said. "Oh, yes that's right, a package came for you today."

"A package? Who from?" the young man asked.

"That's funny," his mother answered. "I didn't think to ask!"

"Well, did you look at the return address?" Ryo asked her.

"No, I didn't think to."

"_That's a little strange, isn't it. I can't think of anyone who would know that we've moved in here yet and I've certainly not told John or Lisa. They really don't know me well enough to send me presents. Mr. Lightbird could have gotten my address from the school records but,"_ Ryo thought to himself.

"Where did you put it?" he asked his mother.

"In your room, I think?" she replied.

"Thank you."

* * *

The next day, neither Mr. Lightbird or his daughter were in school. Of course the rumors started flying around the campus, to the effect that either Mr. Lightbird's injuries had been worse than anyone thought or perhaps Lisa had 'gotten in trouble' or something to that effect.

"From what I've heard, she had a breakdown," Benny Delt, the school misfit said.

"Is that it?" a girl said. "I did hear she was sick."

John O'Neill, who had overheard but was not really part of the conversation just nodded to himself and didn't say anything to them. Even though he had actually been there and knew the truth, confirming it would only feed the rumors. As he moved down the hallway towards the classroom, he encountered his classmate Talia, who addressed him.

"Oh, hello, ah, O'Neill wasn't it?"

"Uh, yeah," John replied to her. "Call me John."

"Uh, John, I'm so sorry about what happened to Lisa. I didn't get to know her all that well but she seemed okay."

"She hasn't had it too good at home lately is all," John told her. "At least that's what Mr. L. told me."

"I see," the girl replied just as the warning bell rang, signaling that it was time to get to class.

That day in History class, there was an unremarkable substitute teacher sitting in Mr. Lightbird's place. The woman, who had been told nothing about where in the curriculum the students actually were at that point, was woefully unprepared to actually teach the course. She was however just competent enough to actually ask the students this important point.

"Excuse me students, but can anyone tell me where we are?" she said.

"In class?" Benny Delt felt compelled to reply.

Everybody including John and Ryo began to snicker. "Course we're in class idiot!" another student commented.

"Wha?" Benny said, a little surprised and irritated at the remark.

The woman, a Miss Akinson by name harrumphed at the kids humor and clarified, "I meant in the course young man!" addressing Benny. To the other boy she said, "As for you, you do not call someone an idiot!"

"Delt is an idiot! Everybody knows that!" another kid said.

"Now that is just rude Mr. Mr. Who is that!?" Miss Akinson asked.

"Oh, that's Jeremy. Jeremy Freeson," Talia told her.

"Okay, Delt, Freeson, and whoever the other one is! The three of you can just go to the Principal's office!" the substitute teacher told the and waved her hand toward the door, writing out hall passes for that purpose. After they were shooed off, the woman turned to the rest of the class and said, "Now that those three are taken care of, maybe the rest of you can listen and learn something." Then of course she realized that she still didn't know where in the course the class was. "Uh, um."

"Pages 233 to 240 in the text Miss Akinson," Ryo supplied.

"Oh, yes, right about where you should be," the teacher said and had the class open their books to that section and then simply began to read those pages aloud. Needless to say most of the class found this style to be quite boring to say the least.

"That class was, I don't know, weird," John said after school let out of the day.

"Clinical and flat," Ryo commented. "Not at all like Lightbird Sensei."

"You can say that again," the other boy replied.

* * *

When the two boys visited the Lightbird house that afternoon to check on the conditions of father and daughter, the news was mixed. Mr. Lightbird himself was definitely on the mend, while Lisa was still in a less than cordial mood.

"I'm sorry about my daughter's behavior," Henry told them. "Her life in recent days hasn't been 'normal' to begin with, and now with these spirits acting badly." He paused before continuing, "It surprises me that the two of you are taking these events as well as you are though. Even though your family situations may be better than ours, and that you're boys..."

"Actually Sir, it is a little disturbing to us, but in my case I've gotten used to being uprooted periodically," Ryo told him. "My family moves a lot, or used to."

"My 'birth family' was military," John supplied, making up a 'sort of truth'. Ryo looked at him and the other boy looked back, knowing that somehow the other boy had a secret or secrets he was holding back. From the look on Ryo's face, John immediately knew he knew it.

The topic then turned to the events of the past few days, and during this Ryo asked, "Did either or both of you get strange package recently?"

Both of the others looked at him, a little startled but at the same time almost expecting the question. "You mean a little bracelet thingy that has a neat little slot to put our other thingies in?"

Ryo nodded, as that was exactly what he had gotten.

"Both Lisa and I got one as well," Mr. Lightbird said. "They came FedEx, so it seemed reasonable enough, and the man who delivered them 'felt' alright, so I didn't question it." He then brought out one of the items in question, which indeed looked like a plain, wide metal bracelet with a slot for a God's Eye talisman. John and Ryo brought out their own, which were indeed identical to the one he held.

"Wonder what would happen if?" Ryo began to say as he fished his talisman out of his shirt pocket with the intention of placing it in the slot on his bracelet. Just then the television which had been murmuring in the background gave out a blaring beep.

"**BEEEEEP! Attention! This is an activation of the Emergency Alert System! An Emergency Situation has arisen in Downtown Prairie City! Repeat! An Emergency Situation has arisen in Downtown Prairie City! Please remain in your homes or if not at home, please report to your nearest Emergency Shelter! For further information please tune into the following radio stations!"**

"Ah, you don't think?" John started to ask.

"It's them?" Ryo finished.

Mr. Lightbird nodded, saying "Go!" As Ryo stuffed his Talisman back in his shirt pocket and slipped his bracelet on his wrist the teacher added, "I'll go see if Lisa can come to help you, but I don't know."

"Don't sweat it Mr. L." John replied. "We'll handle it, somehow." With that the two boys turned toward the door.

* * *

As John and Ryo made their way downtown they passed by a number of people running, driving or otherwise going the other way. Most didn't even pause as they tried to get away from the downtown area. One woman with a little more presence of mind saw them going toward the scene and yelled, "Hey you kids! Are you crazy or something!?" When they finally reached their destination the scene that greeted them was much like they had seen before, with victims laying on the ground, among them a few luckless Police Officers who had tried to oppose the Primal attack. The two boys looked at each other, nodded and in unison called out "Spirit Warrior Power!"

Getting down to work the two began to take on the stray Primals which were still wandering around looking for victims. This time the boys had an easier time taking them down than previously, both due to their growing experience with the creatures and the fact that said Primals were more spread out and isolated. Occasionally they would find a group of two or three that took a bit more effort and teamwork to handle. However one time after defeating a pair of them, the boys saw and encountered something, or rather, someone different.

Standing nearby, apparently directing the enemy forces was a being dressed in ornate yet battered golden armor, looking for all the world like a black winged hybrid of a monkey and a cat. On seeing it, John shouted out what must have been on both his and Ryo's minds at the moment, "Hey! What the Hell kind of Alien are you!?"

The being whirled around to face them and replied. "Oh, there you are! It's funny you should say that, since after all, I've been there!"

"You sure look it!" John said sarcastically. "And it's my guess that you're the one in charge of these things!?"

"Maybe," the monkeycat replied. "But now my little Ranger Wannabes, I'd like you to meet my 'little' friend! The being then took a small spherical red and black object and inserted what looked like a tiny capsule into it, then threw it on the ground.

"Rise now ModSoul Monster, Tortuloid!" the entity shouted and as he/it did so, the sphere changed, transforming into a vaguely humanoid turtle with a spiked shell and a jagged beak, with an unusually large tail for a turtle. It was also armed with both a spiked whip and a spiked club, which looked like they would be extremely painful if they hit!

"What, you're throwing a bad B Movie monster at us!?" John quipped.

"I don't think this is a costume!" Ryo commented. "I've really got a bad feeling about this one!" _"Not to mention a serious feeling of deja vu,"_ he added to himself mentally.

Then, there was no more time for thought or dialogue as the gold armored monkeycat shouted 'Attack!", to which Totuloid responded with a crack of it's whip in the boys' direction, which they managed to avoid, barely. Then with unexpected speed it charged at John, who just having dodged the whip crack took a glancing blow to the side. _"It's a damn Turtle! Why is it so fast!"_ the young man thought as he rolled with the impact. Meanwhile Ryo took the opportunity to strike, but due to the monster's speed he missed, clanging his weapon against the shell, causing his hand to sting. _"Definitely tougher than those other things."_ he thought.

At that moment three gunshots rang out as another police officer who just arrived on the scene fired at the Tortuloid, only to hear the shots bounce off the thing's carapace. The monster didn't even turn around, ordinary bullets being that inconsequential to it. The officer in question was shocked, and not paying attention to her surroundings, was immediately set upon by one of the remaining wandering Primals. As she was knocked out, Greta Slone thought to herself, _"Oh no! Not again!"_

The boys didn't see her go down, as they were busy defending themselves against the monster. Defending, since it seemed nothing they did had any more than a minimal effect on it.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Lightbird house, Henry was standing outside his daughter's bedroom door. "Lisa, there's been another attack! Lisa!"

"Go away!" the girl replied.

"The boys need your help!" her father said.

"I don't care!"

Henry shook his head, "You may say that, but that's not true. I can sense your spirit crying out!"

"So. Mother never cared! She was never around! Not when, when it..."

"When it mattered?" Mr. Lightbird finished for her. "Listen, I know that I can't make up for everything. Your mother, your mother and I, had our problems."

Lisa didn't answer that. Henry sighed. "I know you miss her. So do I."

"But why? Why did you?" Lisa finally said.

"Why did I leave?" her father replied. "I, I."

Henry couldn't honestly answer that question. Not yet. Instead he said, "Listen, Lisa, we, we lost your mother, and yes, it hurts. But listen to your heart, your spirit. Aren't they asking 'Do you want to lose your friends too?' Just think about it."  


* * *

Downtown, the boys still couldn't get a handle on the new monster that hybrid being had summoned. Most of the time they were still on the defensive due to the thing's speed. John couldn't seem to hit any of what most would consider a turtle's vulnerable spots, the head or the joints where the limbs enter the body. Even Ryo, whose senses allowed him to sometimes anticipate Tortuloid's actions to a degree and thereby managed to land a couple of hits on those spots, found that his weapon still couldn't penetrate.

"Man, this thing definitely seems to have that 'Hard Shell Finish'!" John commented. "I can't even scratch it!"

"Face it, you lose!" the monkey-cat being said. "I was mistaken after all! You kids aren't Power Rangers at all!"

The Tortuloid charged again, this time swinging it's spiked club, smashing John down and catching Ryo a glancing blow as he barely sensed it in time.

"J, Just who are you?" John asked the hybrid being, panting.

"Oh, me!?" the monkey-cat replied. "You may call me Goldar! And now Tortuloid, finish them!" He then snapped his fingers, disappearing whence he came.

At that moment as the monster was going for the finishing blow, John and Ryo heard the calls of their Guardian Spirits, the Thunderbird and the Coyote. They also heard the same voice that had called to them once before. This time it told them.

"_**Use the Morphers! Use the Morphers, call upon the power within you, the power of the Spirits!"**_

"_Morpher?"_ John thought as the beast was charging. _"What does he mean by that?" _Then as he scrambled to get out of the way he realized, _"Oh, 'he' means that thing!"_

"_Morpher?" _Ryo thought. _"Oh, that! Oh yes, I was about to try something with whatever that device was before the EAS broadcast! So that's what it is!"

* * *

_

"Oh all right!" Lisa Lightbird nearly shouted as she banged her bedroom door on the doorstop while opening it. "I'll do it this one time!" _"Blasted Conscience,"_ she thought as she on a whim scooped up the package that had been left for her on the table outside her door. Rushing out the door, Lisa made her way toward the Downtown area as fast as her legs could carry her. Fortunately by now the streets were almost completely deserted and she arrived just in time to see John on the ground being charged at by the Tortuloid for the final time. Feeling an unexpected and largely unknown to her surge of emotion at the sight of this, she yanked her God's Eye Talisman out from under her vest and shouted the activation phrase, becoming the yellow-brown Shaman warrior. Then she too heard the mysterious voice urging the three of them to use the 'Morphers'.

Lisa saw Ryo reach for something under his clothes and witnessed him bringing out a plain metal bracelet with a slot to put something. She then saw him take his talisman off his wrist and placed it in the spot, where it fit perfectly. Immediately the bracelet changed shape and color, becoming blue with yellow trim, with the talisman becoming an enameled emblem with the same color and pattern as it had before. The new bracelet also seemed to have one or two electronic devices built into it within a slightly thicker section right next to the emblem.

Lisa couldn't actually see what happened next because at that moment a couple of Primals accosted her, forcing her to fight. "Get out of my way!" she shouted as she tried to make her way toward John. At the same time she heard Ryo shout, "**Spirit Ranger Power, Coyote! Release!" **Then she saw a slight flash of blue light, which seemingly stunned the Primals enough to let her take care of them. When she could see her teammates again, she saw that where Ryo had been, there was now a figure wearing the bracelet Ryo had held, in a skin tight blue and white patterned suit with a few yellow diamonds in the blue areas. The figure had a blue helmet with a dark visor, with a small gold Coyote head emblem in the forehead area. To top it off it also wore a belt with the buckle having a larger version of the same emblem.

"The Coyote howls at the injustice of monsters who pick on my friends!" the blue suited figure could be heard to say in Ryo's voice, letting Lisa know that it was actually him inside the suit. Then Ryo, now the blue suited figure charged at the Tortuloid, which was swinging it's club a third time at John, who was barely dodging after getting back on his feet. Ryo slashed at the monster's most accessible weak area, the base of it's overly long tail with his weapon, which now resembled a short Katana, and which could still fold into the handle like a Swiss Army Knife. (Which by the way meant it had to be wielded two handed.) Unlike all previous attacks against the thing, this actually did some damage. Unfortunately the attack also triggered a reflex action by the tail, flipping Ryo's blade out of the way, and pushing the newly minted Ranger back a little. However since it also caught the Tortuloid's conscious attention and caused it to turn toward him, it was distracted from finishing off John, allowing him to recover and act himself.

After hearing the mysterious voice and Ryo's shouting, as well as seeing his new friend in his new 'jammies', John O'Neill had a fair idea what he had to do now. He too took out the bracelet and placed his talisman, putting it on after it had changed like Ryo's, only red. Shouting **"Spirit Ranger Power, Thunderbird! Release!"**, he too transformed, or 'Morphed'. Only his suit was red and white with Thunderbird motifs at the brow and belt buckle. He still had his combat knife, a little larger with a thunderbird head carved into the handle, but he also now had a pair of large pistols that looked awfully like the blasters that were in movies like Star Wars.

"Sweet!" he shouted as he quickly pulled the guns out of their holsters and took a shot at the turning turtle, ironically hitting it in the same spot as Ryo had. The creature reared in pain and the tail flicked again, but this time there was no one there to be caught. Ryo took the moment to recover his stance and slash at the thing's 'arm', only to have his blade entangled in the Tortuloid's whip. Meanwhile Lisa had finished yet another of the Primals. She was still to busy to have the time to open up the package she had, which most likely contained a bracelet like the others.

"Hey you forgot someone!" John exclaimed as he opened up with both guns, trying to take advantage of the opening while it was occupied with Ryo. However in this case it got the attention of some of the same Primals that had been harassing Lisa and so John's action actually ended up helping her more than the other boy. While some of them turned their attention to the Red Ranger, she managed to use her stone knife to slice open the package containing her bracelet. However it fell out and onto the ground, nearly slipping away while Lisa was forced to deal with one of the other Primals that remained with her. Now a couple more of them were between her and what would become her Morpher. John saw what happened but couldn't help her directly as he was still busy with the Primals that had come after him, and he had to aim carefully so as not to hurt the other Rangers or the Civilians. Ryo meanwhile had finally managed to get his 'Swiss Army Katana' untangled from the thongs of the Tortuloid's whip, but not without taking something of a beating. Fortunately it seemed his suit kept it from hurting much worse than it did, and he could still fight.

With that in mind, he again took up his stance, this time making sure to watch the whip. But this time the monster used it's spiked club, trying to bash the Blue Ranger's head. The young man just barely sensed the move in time, holding up his blade to fend the club blow off, and incidentally in such a way so that the Tortuloid's weapon split in two over it!

The monster continued the swing anyway, missing, and then was confused for a moment as it paused to look at the stump of the club. A costly mistake as Ryo noticed that too and took the opportunity to strike at the arm holding it, which made the thing drop the stub and bellow in pain, allowing Ryo to strike again, this time causing a deep wound in the forelimb. Now enraged the Tortuloid swung it's remaining weapon, the whip wildly with the other arm. Ryo just avoided it, backing off. However it wasn't watching it's back and John, who had just finished off the group of Primals that had assaulted him, took the shot at the back of the thing's head. It staggered, stunned, but still didn't go down completely. In the meantime Lisa had finally managed to recover her bracelet and inserted her talisman, causing it to become a yellow-brown version of the other two. She then shouted out the words that had appeared in her mind, **"Spirit Ranger Power, Hare! Release!"** In a moment she too was in Ranger costume, with her color and spirit motif, with a slight additional difference being that her boots had a kind of metal composite toe and sole.

Finally the whole team was powered up and they now had a chance to get rid of this monster. After looking at herself for half a moment, Lisa nodded to herself and then charged at the Tortuloid, slashing with her knife and then on a whim kicked the thing right on the shell, which made it go down on it's knees and actually caused a crack to form in the shell, from which a bit of ethereal ichor emerged. That kick was her special weapon, as it is the hare's!

But just because Tortuloid was down, John knew, didn't mean it was out. They still had to finish it and quickly, before it recovered and started attacking again, along with any remaining Primals. Something from both his 'Gut' and the military experience he somehow had told him that, and also gave him an idea of just how to end this.

"Everyone, now!" he shouted. "Quickly hit it on the head, all at once!"

"Right!" Ryo responded getting ready.

"Uh, okay," Lisa said a little unsure.

"Now, combined attack! Thunderbird Guns!" John said.

"Coyote Katana!" Ryo added.

"Hare Boots!" Lisa finished. And then simultaneously just as the monster was rising back onto it's feet they simultaneously shouted and acted, "Fire! Slash! Kick!" Well, the timing wasn't really exact this first time, but it was close enough. The force of the attacks punched through where Lisa's earlier kick had cracked the shell, dealing Tortuloid what must have been a fatal blow. Then however as it seemed the monster was about to explode, something unexpected happened once more.

* * *

Next: Episode Five. That's one Big Ghost! Spirit Zords Awaken!

Author's Note: Oh yes I know, cliffhanger. The thing is that I had always intended this battle to be a two parter. Besides, I know that many of you long time Ranger fans can guess what's about to happen. (As if the next episode title didn't give it away.) Now some of you may be wondering about Lisa's behavior, but please understand that it has a lot to do with what happened to her before the story. (Hint, it has something to do with the identity and fate of her mother.) And if you're still wanting to know about Ryo's other Spirit, well that really come into play until much later, although elements of it's influence can be seen in his Ranger costume and weapon.

Cordially: Talanane.


	5. Chapter 5

**Power Rangers Indomitable Spirit**

**By Talanane

* * *

**

The following is a work of Fanfiction. This means that it contains some characters, items, locations and other things that I neither own nor have the rights to. It also means that I never have and never will make any money off of these works.

* * *

**Episode Five: That's One Big Ghost, Spirit Zords Awaken!**

Goldar arrived back in the tangential dimension to be confronted by Beryl, who had been watching the proceedings in the viewing spell, followed by Hinamori and Lord Toskarat himself.

"I see that you took a ModSoul Capsule down to the Living World without orders Goldar." Beryl said. "That weasel Finster 'told' me when I asked him where you were! Wasting a significant amount of our spiritual energy reserves I might add!"

"Wait wait!" Goldar stammered. "I just thought that those kids had to be taken care of, before they got any stronger! Before they really became Power Rangers!"

"You and your 'Power Rangers' Goldar?" Hinamori said. "I think you're a little obsessed with these 'Power Rangers!"

"Enough!" Lord Toskarat said. "What's done is done. But you had better be right Goldar, one way or the other!" The Spirit Overlord then reactivated the viewing spell so that they could observe what was going on in the physical plane, only to witness the three young people in their Ranger costumes and the Tortuloid monster staggered, it's shell cracked. Then they heard John call out his order for the combined attack.

"Oh no!" Goldar exclaimed as he knew what was about to happen. "Quickly my Lord, you must give it more power!" As the monkey-cat said this, the attack hit and the monster slumped to the ground and was about to explode. In an instant, on a whim Toskarat did as Goldar had suggested, sending a surge of spiritual power to the fallen Tortuloid. However due to a particular design feature that Finster had always included in his monsters, it didn't just recover but began to grow huge!

"What the!?" Lord Toskarat exclaimed in surprise, not expecting that.

"Oh, they always do that!" Goldar replied in a matter of fact, to which Beryl muttered under her breath, "Mine never did that." Hinamori just shrugged, having seen creatures just as big before.

* * *

The force of the attacks punched through where Lisa's earlier attacks had cracked the shell, dealing Tortuloid what must have been a fatal blow. Then however as it seemed the monster was about to explode, something unexpected happened once more. The three Rangers felt rather than saw a surge of Spiritual power and then the monster didn't explode but actually seemed to recover. More than that it actually began growing larger, forcing them to quickly back away. When it finished, Tortuloid was a Thirty Six Meter tall version of itself, all damage to it's shell and weapons repaired. The Rangers had to move quickly once more, this time to avoid being stepped on!

"Oh, yet another B movie cliché," John said. "He's turned into, into, what was that one?"

"An evil version of Gamila," Ryo supplied.

"What?" Lisa asked, not getting the reference.

"Oh, it just means we've got real trouble now!" John answered her. He was at a bit of a loss, even with his 'past' experience. Just how did someone take on something like this without blowing up the city? It was Ryo who first noticed the beeping coming from the Morphers and looked at his own to notice one of the buttons flashing and a small data screen reading, "**Zord Online, Activate?"** Then as had happened before that one voice spoke in his head giving him the words. He punched the flashing button and shouted, "Coyote Spirit, Zord Manifestation!"

As Ryo shouted the command there was a ripple in the air over the nearest clear area and in that spot materialized a deep blue mechanized Coyote about eight meters high and eighteen meters long, including the tail. The young man suddenly had an urge to go toward it, with a feeling that there was something the 'Zord' was expecting of him. He started running toward the open area to reach it.

John, as he witnessed and heard what Ryo had done, shrugged, knowing there was little to lose for trying and stabbed the button on his own Morpher, but he called out "Thunderbird Spirit, Zord Manifestation!" As he did so another ripple formed in the air over the clear area and this time a red machine in the shape of a great red bird with a twenty meter wingspan appeared over the Coyote. John too had the urge to go towards his Zord, and did so.

As before, Lisa hesitated for a moment, especially at the size of the two Zords, as well as the Modsoul Monster. Then she sighed, knowing that she had to go through with this and pushed the button. "Hare Spirit, Zord Manifestation!" she cried out. As before, there was a ripple in the air near the Coyote and a Yellow-Brown Hare appeared, of similar size to the other Zords. After it solidified, the young woman followed her companions toward the abandoned lot.

As each young person arrived in the clearing, there was a beam of light from the heads of their respective Zords and in a moment they found themselves inside what appeared to be a cockpit or control room.

"Oh, cool!" John said as he examined the controls of the Thunderbird Zord, which by the way greatly resembled those of a jet fighter. "I can use this!" He quickly took ahold of the yoke with one hand and with the other pushed the transmit button on what he recognized as a kind of radio panel.

"Hey guys, I think we have a chance!" John said, not really knowing if any transmission is getting out.

"W,Well, maybe," he heard Lisa's voice saying. "I don't really know how this thing works, but."

"It seems that whoever sent us our 'Morphers', anticipated this sort of thing happening and built these Mecha also, hiding them in another dimension or something like that," Ryo's voice was heard to say. "Fortunately for us Miss Lightbird, there seems to be some kind of crash tutorial built into these 'Zords' as they're called. Just push the gold pulsing button on the upper left of your panel."

Lisa, hearing the boy's words, quickly and frantically looked around to her left for the button he had mentioned. Twelve seconds later she spotted it and pressed. Then she felt a jab of pain in her head as a beam of light entered her eyes, as the system literally downloaded the basic operations manual of the Hare Zord into her mind. As the light and pain faded, she looked again at the controls, which now seemed quite familiar and took ahold of the control yoke.

John too pushed the button, if only to familiarize himself with any differences between the Thunderbird Zord and a fighter. He felt far less pain than Lisa, although he didn't know that.

Ryo incidentally, had felt no pain at all when he had pushed the button, just before he had heard Lisa's voice saying she didn't know how to operate the Zord.

"Well, is everyone ready?" John asked over the communicator after he had recovered from the 'tutorial' session.

"Yes," Ryo replied. "I am ready."

"Ah, well, let's just do this and go home," Lisa transmitted.

"Okay, let's keep it simple folks. I'll get him from above while the two of you take the sides."

"Okay." Ryo said. "Let's go!"

"Here goes," Lisa added.

"Attack!" John ordered as he powered up his Zord, sending it flying toward the enlarged Tortuloid, which was in the midst of an assault on a thankfully abandoned building. As he raced toward the monster, he pushed a button on his control column, firing a pair of crimson lightning bolts from the leading edges of the Zord's wings. This didn't do too much damage to the Tortuloid but it did get it's attention, setting it up for the other Zords' attacks. As the ModSoul Monster turned around Ryo brought the Coyote Zord racing up toward it's left leg, activating the Zord's Ice Fang attack. It struck, staggering the monster just a bit, although not enough to cause it to stumble. Lisa meanwhile triggered the Hare Zord's Thumper attack, causing it's rear legs to pound on the ground, causing moderate tremors, staggering the Tortuloid a bit more. However since she had not closed in enough, the effect is not what it could have been and since she was sitting still, she was the one the monster targeted when it recovered it's balance. The Tortuloid lashed out with it's whip to entangle Lisa's Zord, although at that long range only one thong actually connected, scratching the Hare's forelimb.

"You've got to keep moving L.," John said as he came back for a second pass.

"Hey, I'm new at this!" Lisa replied to him as she made the Hare Zord bound up, shaking off the whip thong. Ryo meanwhile said nothing as he brought the Coyote Zord back around, preparing for his next attack. As John made his second pass, he attacked with the flamethrowers built into his Zord's torso this time, trying to get the Tortuloid in the face. It however saw this in time to retract it's head momentarily, causing him to miss. However at the same time Ryo triggered the Coyote Zord's Blue Mist canisters, releasing an obscuring blue fog between the monster and the Hare Zord, as well as himself.

The Tortuloid swung it's club wildly into the space where the Coyote Zord had been, missing. "Hey, watch it! I can't see if you do that!" Lisa exclaimed.

"Well, sorry." Ryo told her. "I was trying to blind the enemy."

"Okay, I guess that didn't work," John said, commenting on the thus far lack of results. "What else do we have?"

"We could try the 'Megazord' mode," Ryo suggested.

"Megazord?" John was about to ask except at that moment he got an image in his mind showing all three Zords combining into one huge Zord. "Oh yes, we could do that!" He then gave another order, saying, "Prepare Megazord formation!"

John, Ryo and then finally Lisa took the enamel emblems out of their Morphers and inserted them into the slight depressions in their control panels that were made to hold them. As they did so the emblems transformed again into crystals of their respective colors. Then a surge of energy flowed through and even between the Zords as they automatically moved into a formation with the Thunderbird Zord above the Coyote Zord and the Hare Zord in front. Then the Coyote Zord suddenly stood upright on it's hind legs, and it's head retracted into it's body while the forelimbs changed configuration into what looked like parts of a pair of arms. The Thunderbird Zord came down over the Coyote Zord's head, parts of it detaching and locking onto the Coyote's forelimbs and chest area, forming the rest of the arms, chest area and a new humanoid head. The wings transferred themselves onto the Coyote Zord's back. The Hare Zord meanwhile also split into parts in front of the Coyote, forming parts of the lower body and legs. Then after that the parts shifted one final time, until the assemblage looked like a complete humanoid warrior robot.

When the transformation was complete, the Rangers found that they were now in a new shared control area within the Megazord. The controls were different than before, but no less familiar, due to the effect of the 'tutorial' device. John for instance found that there were now a few new options, including one that made him grin mischeviously.

"Okay!" he said as he operated the controls at his station. "Charge Thunderflame Cannon!"

"Ah, 'Sir', we need to weaken him before we do that." Ryo commented.

"Huh, how would you know?" John asked him.

"Well, according to these readouts, the monster still has a good deal of energy left." the other boy told him.

"So what, do it anyway!" John ordered. However before they could do anything, the Tortuloid's club came down on the Megazord's left shoulder, pushing them back just a little and making the Rangers struggle to keep their balance. They had hesitated and debated too long and let the enemy get the first strike.

"Grr," John growled as the Megazord went down on one knee. "Bastard!" Lisa meanwhile, tried something on her console, saying "Optiflash!"

The Megazord's eyes pulsed five times in a high intensity strobe effect, blinding the Tortuloid briefly. The Rangers were unaffected as a filter had automatically engaged, protecting their eyes. This gave John enough time to get the Zord back on it's feet.

"Ah, thanks," John told Lisa as they got the Zord back into a defensive posture. "Okay, let's try this again, Char." But before he could say it the monster recovered it's eyesight and cracked it's whip at them, making John have to evade.

"Whoh!" he said and then addressing Ryo he asked, "Okay Mr. Expert, what would you do?"

"Something to keep those weapons of his off of us!" Lisa suggested.

Ryo reached out and grabbed a handle and suggested. "We use the Spirit Power Sword." He then gestured with his free hand for them to take hold of similar handles on their consoles.

"Spirit Power Sword!" they all shouted as John and Lisa took hold of their controls. As they did so a slightly curved blade of shimmering colors formed in the Megazord's right hand, it's hilt wrapped in strips of all three of the Ranger's colors. Just in time as the enemy once again took a swing with it's club, which the Rangers barely blocked. The Tortuloid pressed forward, trying to push them back while the team stood their ground, locked in an apparent stalemate. The Spirit Power Sword trembled, mostly due to the fact that the Rangers weren't quite in synch. Lisa had the idea to kick at the monster and activated the appropriate foot controls, but because she didn't tell the others she was going to do it, the Megazord stumbled a little bit. Therefore even though the tactic worked, the team had to spend their time recovering their balance rather than following up.

"Hey, tell us if you want to do that!" John shouted as he worked his controls.

"Well, what would you have done?!" Lisa retorted.

"I don't know!" John shouted back, just as the Tortuloid's club hit again.

"_Our 'team spirit', isn't what it could be," _Ryo noted silently.

* * *

"Just like I figured," Goldar commented on seeing the image in the viewing spell. "These kids aren't Rangers, they're just punks in suits."

"Yes, I think that those Sailor Brats could do better than those three," Beryl observed. _(As much as I hate to admit it.)_ she added in thought.

* * *

"Well Goldar," Lord Toskarat said. "I guess you did have a good idea about taking them out right away. But remember who you're working for from now on!"

"Achoo!" John O'Neill sneezed from the smoke and dust in the Megazord cockpit. "The Big Bads or whoever must be talking about us." he quipped.

"Nothing complimentary most likely," Ryo added as another blow of the whip came at them. "If we don't coordinate better, they may even start laughing." he continued as they blocked the attack.

"Meaning if we don't pull it together, we'll be the joke." John concluded. "I got ya."

"How?" Lisa asked.

At that moment for the fourth time the mysterious voice spoke to them. **"Be one with your Spirits and in Spirit."** it said. **"Only then can you achieve victory."**

"What does that mean?" John asked, but the voice didn't answer.

"I don't know!" Lisa said.

Then to everyone's slight surprise, Mr. Lightbird's voice came over the Megazord's communication system. He said. "_**What I believe 'he' is saying is that you should let go of your 'thoughts' and go with your instinct and Spirit."**_

"I didn't know Mr. L. had a radio" John said.

"I didn't either, but it sounds just like the thing 'Pops' would say." Lisa answered.

"It sounds 'right' to me," Ryo added. "I have a feeling it is," he concluded as they sidestepped the Megazord to avoid another club blow.

"Oh why not," John said. "We're getting beaten and have to do something."

Ryo nodded and then both boys began trying to empty their minds of conscious thought. Lisa as before hesitated a bit and then followed suit. Although this action meant that for the moment they were quite vulnerable to any attacks, it was only for a moment and then the three of them found themselves in a shared dreamscape, along with their Spirit Guardians, the aura's of all six beings stretching out and then touching and combining. As they did so, their awareness snapped back to reality and this time as one they took hold of the controls governing the Spirit Power Sword. Now in perfect synch they pushed the Megazord toward the enemy, slicing at the oncoming club, once again destroying the Tortuloid's weapon. As before the monster was surprised, looking at the cut off end of the implement. That pause was enough for the team to follow up, as a team, driving their sword into the gap between the beast's shell and head, forcing the Tortuloid to retreat a bit. Then, as the Rangers' now shared awareness noted the monster's falling energy readings, they dismissed their blade and held out the Megazord's arms in front of it, calling out in chorus, **"Charge Thunderflame Cannon!" **Then after waiting a couple of seconds for the charge to build up, they shouted, **"Fire!" **A great pulse of crimson fire lept out, surrounded by crackles of crimson lightning. Traveling at the speed of light, the pulse almost instantaneously covered the distance between the Megazord and enemy, striking at the same point where the Spirit Power Sword had struck before, sending ravaging energies into the monster. A moment later, with those same energies running over it's shell, the Tortuloid finally exploded, eerily without as sound, and then vanished, leaving only a tiny capsule like object, which then itself exploded with a crack.

All three Rangers blinked as they came back to individual awareness. They all groaned as they each had varying degrees of headache and flashing images of thoughts that weren't their own. The latter faded quickly enough, although in Lisa's case the former definitely needed the relief of an aspirin or other pain reliever.

"Uh, what was that, I saw" Lisa said as she clutched her head.

"I believe that what the 'voice' said was correct," Ryo answered her, rubbing his temple. "Our minds literally merged for a few moments, and I think we saw a few of each other's thoughts."

"Oh great!" John commented as he too was massaging his head. "Every time we have to use this thing we have to go into a mind scramble fusion thingie."

"I believe the word is Gestalt," Ryo supplied. "And I don't know if it would be necessary every time, or if it was only because we had trouble working as a team otherwise."

"I'm not looking forward to it," John said.

"I don't wanna," Lisa commented. "Gives me a headache!"

"Like I said, I don't really know." Ryo reiterated. "But shouldn't we get out of these 'Zords' and check on everybody else?"

"Oh right." John said, then gave the order. "Megazord Mode Disengage!"

* * *

"Aggh!" Goldar complained as the Tortuloid blew up. "I don't believe it!"

"Well, well, you were both right, and wrong Goldar," Beryl observed. "These children were more resourceful than you thought. They might become trouble after all."

"Yes, these 'Power Rangers' could become a problem," Lord Toskarat said. "We may need to use some of our resources to deal with them. Go tell this 'Finster' friend of yours to be ready to make another ModSoul Monster. But this time don't deploy it unless I tell you! You got that!"

"Ah, yes Sir!" Goldar replied as he left the chamber, heading toward Finster's lab.

"Ohh!" Officer Greta Sloane groaned as she regained consciousness, to see the forms of John, Ryo and Lisa moving around, helping various civilian victims of the attack. What she noticed most though was the face of Henry Lightbird, and his hand offered to help her off the ground.

"Uh, thanks citizen," she said as the older man helped her up. Then on noticing the three kids were in the area as well she remembered them.

"Why does it seem that whenever something happens, the four of you are nearby?" she said in a low tone. Henry shrugged and said, "Coincidence?"

"_Three times?"_ Greta thought to herself. _'What's your game Lightbird?"_

_

* * *

  
_

Later that evening, Ryo was relaxing at home, after completing his homework of course. Right now he was looking at his Morpher Bracelet, as he had not had an opportunity to really do so. He now saw that in addition to the Talisman slot and the Zord Summon device, that there was also a kind of communications device built into it. He nodded, reasoning that Mr. Lightbird must have also discovered this, and that's what allowed him to contact them during the Zord battle. Ryo looked closer and even on the underside of the bracelet's band, but he couldn't find out anything else. That must be all there was to it, just the basics. Nothing fancy.

There was a knock at his bedroom door. Quickly putting his Morpher away he answered saying, "Come in!"

His father entered, wearing his pajamas with a robe on top. "Can I talk to you for a moment son?"

"Yes, Father." Ryo answered. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I just came in to see how you were doing. You seemed a little tired when I saw you earlier." the middle aged man said.

"Well, Mr. Lightbird has been keeping us late working on that special project," Ryo told him.

"Ah, yes," the boy's father answered. "I do know that it's important to you. Just don't allow your other grades to suffer for it, all right?"

"Yes Sir," the young man answered him. Then, just before turning to leave his father added, "Oh yes, I also came to remind you that your mother and I were going out this Saturday and you'll have to watch your sister for a while. Alright?"

"I'll remember father," Ryo told him.  


* * *

Next Time: Episode Six, Toddler Trouble.

Author's Note: Finally with the first Zord battle, this series is now up to speed. Well yes, as you can tell, the Rangers' teamwork is still sometimes a little shaky. That is to be expected when a group is just starting out. Well, I didn't expect to to use anything like the 'mental Gestalt'. It just came out that way! And yes, they (and I) will have to deal with the consequences.

Cordially, Talanane


	6. Chapter 6

**Power Rangers Indomitable Spirit**

**By Talanane**

**

* * *

**

The following is a work of Fanfiction. This means that it contains some characters, items, locations and other things that I neither own nor have the rights to. It also means that I never have and never will make any money off of these works.

* * *

**Episode Six, Toddler Trouble**

The next day, Lisa Lightbird had not yet returned to school, nor had Mr. Lightbird. Ryo could understand this, since he was certainly still tired from the previous day's battle. So once again the students in his class were saddled with Miss Akinson as a substitute. Nor to almost everyone's relief were Benny Delt or Jeremy Freeson. Talia however was, sitting at her desk beside Lisa's

"Hey Johnny," she said. "Lisa's still sick?"

"Ah, yeah," John answered. "And don't call me Johnny."

"Aw!" Talia pouted. "I was just asking."

"Did you hear?" another student in the room asked. "They say that some giant monster showed up yesterday and then some big robot came to fight it."

"Come on, that only happens on T.V" another said.

"I heard it was the Power Rangers, can you believe it? Right here in Prairie City!" a third added.

"Nah, they only show up in places like California," a fourth replied.

"_What they don't know, as the saying goes,"_ Ryo thought. _"And the thing is, in this case it's true."_

"_You can say that again buddy," _John thought back. And then they both realized with a barely contained surprise, that they didn't say those words, only thought them. And yet they 'heard' each other.

"_Ah, don't tell me we're telepathic now!?" _John thought to Ryo. _"Is everybody hearing us?"_

"_Let me 'think' for a second,"_ Ryo answered him. _"I believe it is 'yes' and 'no". "Yes, we now seem to have some kind of telepathic ability, and no, I don't think anyone else can hear us."_

"_Something to do with yesterday?" _John asked.

"_Most likely," _Ryo answered.

"Okay students." Miss Akinson called out. "Please turn in your homework and continue reading in your text."

"_She really is lazy," _John commented.

* * *

Later that afternoon when the boys checked in at the Lightbird house, they found Lisa was a little better than she had been even before the Megazord battle, and she at least 'talked' with them long enough to learn that she too had picked up a new telepathic ability. Upon telling Mr. Lightbird about the events of the previous day he agreed with Ryo that it happened when they had joined their Spirits during the Megazord battle. He also had the boys go through a few tests of his devising and they soon found out that fortunately their abilities so far were relatively short range and limited to their conscious thoughts. Their subconscious thoughts were safe, for now.

"It's too bad I don't have the time to train the two of you," Henry Lightbird said. "Between your education, these monsters and this 'Goldar' you say brought them." He trailed off, the implication being enough.

That evening, Lisa was alone in her room, still trying to deal with the events in her life, including what happened the previous day. It was still so confusing. First, there was the fact that her parents had not really gotten along in the last few years, and that she had seen very little of her father, and later not enough of her mother. Then just a few weeks ago.. No, she still didn't want to think of that. Then yesterday, yesterday. It was like her mind was, well, not exactly ripped open or raped or anything like that, since she had willingly gone along at first, and then the process had taken over. She had begun seeing thoughts, memories and having feelings that weren't hers! What's more, she was certain that the two boys had also seen, heard, smelt, felt, some of what was in hers. She was sure they knew, they had to, that.

That her mother was dead.

They knew that she had died in a senseless traffic accident. That even now she couldn't even think, much less speak her mother's name.

Lisa blinked, trying to clear her eyes. For a moment she almost thought that she could see her mother's face floating in front of her, a very sad look on her face.

"**_Lisa"_** she heard her mother's voice say. But no, that wasn't possible, although.

"**_Lisa"_** her mothers voice said again. This time she looked in the direction from whence it came and this time she could make out the spectral figure of her mother as she had looked on the last day of her life.

"**_Listen Lisa,"_** the phantom of her mother, a short woman with slightly graying brown hair told her. **_"I don't have much time."_**

"You're dead," her daughter replied. "You left us!"

"**_Yes, yes my daughter. I 'died' as most people understand it. I am only able to come see you this __once, because of what I once was, and you are, a Power Ranger."_**

"What, mother?" Lisa said.

"**_Yes Lisa, I was once a Power Ranger, one of Zordon's first rangers. But something happened, and I left the team. Or rather I ran away."_**

"Ran away?" Lisa asked. "You abandoned them like you did..."

"**_Yes Lisa, I admit it." _**the woman's shade told her daughter. **_"There was something I couldn't face and I. It's hard to say, but I did, I abandoned them. And I regret it. I regret.."_** The spectre of Lisa's mother started to cry and the daughter, despite herself tried to go over to hold and comfort her, only she couldn't, the her mother being a ghost. Still the gesture had some of the desired effect and the ghost composed herself a little, continuing. **_"Now my daughter, remember. Your friends need you! Don't run away like I did! Stand with them and share both the happiness and the sadness. That is the way of the Power Rangers!"_**

As she finished those last words the Spirit of Lisa's mother seemed to change into the form of a pink crane, which then proceeded to take off and fly right through the wall, disappearing right up into Heaven, or perhaps, Hell.

The next thing Lisa knew, she heard a knocking on her bedroom door and her father's voice calling out, "Lisa, are you all right! I though I sensed something!"

"Ah, yeah pops!" the girl answered and then opened the door, and immediately fell into her father's outstretched arms, crying like she hadn't in a long time.

* * *

On Wednesday, Henry Lightbird and his daughter were finally back in class, to both John and Ryo's relief. Talia greeted Lisa warmly as a friend, as she truly considered her one, although other students were still spreading rumors about what really happened, none of which were anywhere near the mark. Mr. Lightbird took back control of his class and the students were once again actually learning American History.

"Hey Ryo, Lisa, do you want to go fishing this weekend?" John asked.

"Huh, fishing? Oh, you do that?" Lisa asked.

"Yep," John answered her. "You wanna go?"

"Gee, I'll have to ask 'pops' but." Lisa hesitated.

"He can come too," John acknowledged. "Ryo, you?"

"Oh, sorry," the other boy responded, "I have to watch my little sister Saturday."

"Okay, you can bring her." John said.

"She's only two years old," Ryo informed him.

"Oh," the other boy responded, realizing that having the little one around would be something of an irritant for him.

"Maybe some other time?" Ryo told him, "That is if the you know what don't show up."

"Right," John answered.

* * *

In Lord Toskarat's tangential dimension, Beryl was not happy, or rather more unhappy than usual. Not only had the Rangers disrupted Spiritual Energy collection, but then had wasted a significant amount of what they had collected with the ridiculous 'ModSoul' monster that his whining 'friend' Finster and the Soul Reaper Hinamori had come up with! She sighed, as it strongly reminded her of the old times when her own minions had failed repeatedly to defeat the Sailor Senshi. And now Lord Toskarat had called a meeting of sorts, probably to discuss these very events.

As she entered what passed for the Spirit Overlord's Throne Room, she saw that all of the others were already there, except Lord Toskarat himself. _"At least I'm not late."_ she thought. But not by much, as the Overlord emerged not five seconds later from a gap in the curtains behind the throne.

"I see that we're all here," Toskarat said. "So let us get down to to cases." He paused in order to make sure he had everyone's attention. "We are all here for one reason, and one reason alone, revenge! Revenge against the forces of so-called 'Justice' who have defeated both ourselves and our masters! To obtain it, we must obtain the ultimate dark power, which the Greater Spirits had sealed behind the Night Door!"

Beryl shivered, just a little. She had heard of this 'Night Door' spoken about in the myths and legends of the Dark Kingdom. And the thing that was behind this door? From what she had heard it was something so dark, so evil that even she would hesitate to release it, even if she had found a way. Who or what was Toskarat then, to think that he could do so and have any control over it, or even survive?

* * *

Ryo Urawa awoke Saturday to a feeling that something was going to happen, somewhere. He only hoped that what that something was had nothing to do with anything bad happening. Shaking off the feeling, he went about his morning routine, getting ready for a day of watching his sister Ena.

By about nine-thirty, his parents were ready to leave, and his mother was just giving him a last little bit of advice.

"Now Ryo, don't be feeding your sister any of that American junk food. She's not old enough, and it's not good for her anyway." she told him.

"Yes Mother," the young man replied. The middle aged woman looked like she wanted to say something else, but thought better of it and turned toward the open car door and got inside. As Ryo's father got in the other side and started the car, the young man thought, _"Don't worry, I'll protect her."_

Some time later, a few minutes after the two siblings had eaten their lunch, Ryo's little sister came up to him and tugged a little on his sleeve, saying.

"Brother, brother, can I go out t'play?"

Turning away from the sink he looked at young Ena's face, seeing the childish pleading in her face. "In a little while little sis," he replied. "I have to finish this first. Besides, don't you think that if you run around this soon after eating, that your tummy will hurt?"

"But I want't go now!" Ena pouted, as kids that age will do.

"Okay, just let me finish this first," Ryo told his sister. Then he added, "Don't forget to go use the potty before we go, all right?"

"Kay!" the little girl called out as she raced to the bathroom. "Hey, don't run in the house!" Ryo called out after her.

"_Kami! I sound just like dad!"_ the young man thought to himself as he turned to finish the dishes. Whether or not little Ena followed his advice he would never know, but just three or four minutes later she was back and bouncing up and down behind him saying "C'mon C'mon, let''s go!", impatiently.

"Just a minute Ena." he replied as he washed and rinsed the last three items. After he finished he once again turned toward his sister and having a thought asked, "Did you remember to wash your hands?"

"Uh?" the little girl replied, signifying that she hadn't and then asked, "Why?"

"Well, do you remember that I sometimes have to take out the trash?" Ryo asked his little sister.

Ena nodded, for she did in fact remember that, although she didn't see the connection yet.

"For your body, using the potty is just like taking out the trash. Do you remember why I told you I wash my hands after taking out the trash?"

"So you don't get sick!" the little girl suddenly remembered and rushed off back to the bathroom. Ryo followed to make sure that she didn't hurt herself from running. He also inevitably had to clean up the spilled water the child splashed over the bathroom floor.

Finally, after a short delay, they were finally ready to go outside. Ryo decided that he would take his sister to a small park that he had seen on his way to and from school each weekday. When they arrived, he could see that there were a few children of various ages playing there, along with one seemingly bored mother and as luck would have it, a couple of teenagers that Ryo had seen in school. Only also as luck would have it, one of them happened to be Benny Delt, someone he and a good number of other kids at school would not enjoy spending time with. Young Mr. Delt almost immediately proceeded to confirm that opinion when he came up to Ryo and Ena and started talking.

"Hey U Wa Wa!" Benny slurred. " I didn't know you had a kid already."

"Our surname is Urawa, Mr. Delt." Ryo replied calmly. "And for your information this person is my younger sister, Ena Urawa."

"That so!" Benny said. "Never thought the Brain U Wa Wa, would spend time babysitting.!"

"Mr. Delt, please. If you would please refrain from saying that sort of thing in my sister's presence. It will upset her," Ryo informed him.

"Oh yeah?" Benny retorted. "Then maybe she would like some ice cream?!"

"I'm sorry, but.." Ryo started to say, until Benny tried to squash the ice cream cone he had been holding upside down over the little girl's head. Ryo sensed what he was going to do just in time to intercept the other boy's hand, knocking the ice cream onto the ground instead.

"As I was going to say, my sister is too young to have ice cream," Ryo told Benny. "Now if you will please leave here, as you are trying my patience!" As he said this, Ena was indeed starting to become upset and beginning to cry. But before either boy could say of do anything more, some of the other kids as well as the bored mother in the park began screaming. One of them was heard to say, "Hey what!? Those are the sa!?", before she was cut off by being knocked unconscious by her attacker. Benny turned around to see what was happening and he too screamed, tearing off in a random direction, stumbling into and/or smashing into several obstacles along the way. "Oh Kami!" Ryo said under his breath so his sister couldn't hear as she clung to his leg in fear. Then he turned his head and looked down at Ena, saying much more audibly, "Ena, listen to me now! You have to RUN! You have to run away and hide, now!"

The little girl shook her head and continued to cling to her brother's leg even as the Primals milled about and closed in towards them._ "Damm, I can't Morph or even use my Spirit Warrior power like this!"_ he thought to himself. _"I can't even use the communicator in my Morpher because Ena would see me! Can't use telepathic contact either since the others are most likely out of range!"  


* * *

_

A few kilometers from there John O'Neill was sitting on the bank of Prairie Creek, fishing pole in hand and his attention not really focused on anything in particular. Nearby his teacher Henry Lightbird was also fishing, and similarly unfocused in his attention, although in his case it was more of a meditative state. Lisa wasn't fishing, instead listening to some of the music on her MP3 player. Her heart wasn't really into that at the moment, since she was still thinking about the 'vision' of her mother from the other day. The young woman had not entirely forgiven her mother, nor even entirely believed what she had said, even when her father had concluded afterward that she had indeed had a true vision.

While she was busy thinking about that, John's unfocused mood was interrupted by a sudden and unexplained itching in his ear. He tried putting his little in there to scratch it. Since it seemed to help, he soon forgot about it and went back to fishing.

Meanwhile Ryo was engaged in fending the attacks of three Primals that had surrounded him and his sister. Without his Spirit Warrior or Ranger powers, that was about all he could do, fend them off. Fortunately he had managed to back himself up against a light pole, but with Ena still clinging to his leg he couldn't move like he wanted to. Because of all this the attacks were starting to take a toll on his hands and arms as the Primal's claws scratched and even cut them in a couple of places, with the blood starting to flow.

"_If we get out of this, I'm seriously going to ask Sensei if we can all go take Martial Arts lessons," _Ryo thought to himself. _"To tell the truth, we need them."_

As he thought these things, young Ena continued to cling to his leg, hiding her eyes for the most part. However a few moments later she heard her brother grunt in pain as one of the Primals hit him in the side, slicing through his shirt and leaving a gash in his side. Instinctively she looked up just for a moment and saw the blood on her brother's clothes. She screamed, loud enough so that the creatures were actually stunned for a moment. The shock of the sight also caused Ena to let go of his leg, and fall to the ground, dazed. Now Ryo could have used the opportunity to get out from between the creatures attacking them. But because his sister was still there in danger, he couldn't. Instead he took a moment to pull out his Morpher bracelet and said, "Please forgive me, I must!", before slipping it on and activating it.

"**Spirit Ranger Power, Coyote! Release!"** Ryo shouted and was almost immediately in his Blue Ranger garb. Unfolding his Jack-Katana, he quickly slashed through the three disoriented Primals, destroying them. Still he couldn't go after any of the others right away because of his sister. Instead he picked her up with one arm while holding his weapon with the other, looking to get Ena to a safe(r) place.

"_Can't take her home! Somebody might see!" _he thought. _"Can't go too far, those things might attack other innocents! _Looking around quickly, he spotted a masonry barbecue grill, with slightly raised walls around the grill itself. Not the best place to put his sister, but it was large enough to fit a toddler and it was somewhat defensible. Grimacing behind his faceplate at the mental imagery, Ryo went and set Ena on top of the grill, then turned to take up a defensive position as well as send a call for help to his teammates.

At that very moment, Henry Lightbird was disturbed from his meditation by a sense that something was very wrong. Coincidentally at the same time, Lisa's music player suffered a quantum fluctuation and skipped a few tracks, settling on one of the older tracks in her collection, which just happened to be 'Help!', by the Beatles. Not expecting this to happen, she took her headphones off to check, just in time to hear another classic riff coming from her purse **"BeepBeep, BeepBeepBeepBeep!"**

Both she and John were a little startled by the unfamiliar ring tone, but Mr. Lightbird was less so due to the warning from his psychic senses. He had almost expected it and so it was he who had pulled out his Morpher bracelet first and answered the call.

"Lightbird," he said all business like. Immediately he heard Ryo's voice issue from the speaker saying, "Sensei! Thank Kami!", he said then pausing a moment before continuing. "I have a little problem! The you-know-what have shown up here! Little Prairie Park at Sixth and Grassland! My sister is here too, and I'm tied up! Need help!"

"I felt something was wrong." Mr. Lightbird replied. "We'll be there as soon as we can, over and out!"

The call was over just in time, as another group of Primals was coming towards Ryo's position. Because he had to protect his sister, he couldn't move far, and he certainly couldn't let any of them get behind him. Oh, he struck at the creatures when he could and in the process destroyed several of them. However there were more and several times he actually had to take blows from them so that Ena would not be harmed. Physically anyway. He knew deep down that emotional damage had already been done.

"_I'm sorry Imouto!"_ he thought as he blocked another blow from a Primal. _"I couldn't protect you completely! I know that your'e hurt, inside! If I could take that pain for you!"_ As he thought and felt, something inside him, something forgotten, stirred. Unknown to him, as he wasn't looking for it, little sparks of energy started coursing around and within the yellow diamonds on his blue Ranger uniform. He didn't realize it, but the blows coming from the enemy didn't hurt so much, and his own blows were somewhat more powerful. That was because his consciousness had shifted slightly, becoming a little hazy, although he was still in overall control, for now. As he fought, Ryo could hear both the anguished howl of the Coyote, as well as the call of something else, a name that he couldn't quite hear, 'B—b-!'.

* * *

Somewhere on the other side of the world, ten other beings heard that call in their minds, if only faintly. Four of them, a geeky young man, a young woman who was an artist, a slightly older woman who was studying paleontology, and one fat white cat, heard it and dismissed it as a trick of their minds. Two others, who happened to be a young Catholic Priest and another who was an old Shinto Priest, heard more clearly and got a feeling that something was wrong. Something like a conflict between Good and Evil. Three others, all teenage girls, got more than that. They actually saw a 'snapshot', of the battle at that moment. It didn't last long enough for any of them to make out any details, but it was enough for them to know that someone was in trouble, although they didn't know who or where. The last one, a woman with long dark green hair and red eyes, saw that snapshot and felt a slight, but noticeable shift in future probabilities. But like the others, she didn't know who it was or where, much less tell just how large an effect that this event would have on the future.

* * *

Back in the vicinity of Prairie City on a road just outside of town, John O'Neill was driving Henry Lightbird's truck, well not quite like a maniac but pretty close to it. He just hoped that the Cops didn't choose to show up anytime soon. Fortunately for him and the others the Prairie City Police had much better things to do, namely showing up at the scene of the attack. As luck or whatever would happen, once again it was officer Greta Sloane who first showed up at the scene, in time to see the Blue Ranger surrounded by those same 'things' that she had seen on previous occasions.

"This again!" she shouted as she saw the Ranger fighting whatever they were. Then, she saw one of the creatures coming at her from the corner of her eye and drawing her service sidearm, took a snap shot at the thing coming at her, hitting it in the claw just enough to keep it from hitting her.

"Not this time, Creep!" she shouted as she tried to make her way through them toward the Blue Ranger. She did take several minor hits as she weaved between them. She just made it, right in time to see the Ranger rip through the heads of two of the creatures. On seeing this she had two thoughts, one was, _"It's good that __someone__ can take these things on!" _The other was, _"Why is he just standing there in place?"_ Then as she made her way closer, barely avoiding another blow from one of the enemies, she saw why.

"Oh no!" Officer Sloane exclaimed when she saw the little girl unconscious on the barbecue grate. It seemed a strange place for her to be, but it was obvious Greta that the guy in blue was protecting her! It was at that time that the Ranger noticed her, and in a strange, partly bestial voice he shouted, "Hey, Officer! Get her out of here, now!" as he gestured toward the little girl.

In an ordinary situation, that form of address would have been very rude, but in this case it was understandable. Besides, it was officer Sloane's duty to protect the innocent, to take the little girl to safety. Reaching over to pick the toddler up, she wrapped the unresponsive girl in her uniform jacket and started to make her way back toward her patrol bike, all while the Ranger screened them from the creatures' attacks. Finally they reached it and putting the toddler on her bike in front of her, Greta started it, pulling away and heading toward the Hospital, even as she had to weave between some of the creatures.

As Ryo saw the officer pull away, in his half conscious mind, the emotional part relaxed a little bit, and that power, whatever power that had been awakened by the young man's anguish at his sisters' hurt, almost took over, to send him on an uncontrolled rampage. However something else, like a voice from the past, seemed to speak, saying "NO!"

As the voice faded, the power coursing through him, as symbolized by the cracking energy in the yellow diamonds on his suit, also faded away, and Ryo's conscious mind returned, leaving him with no recall of the past few minutes. One of the Primals hit him while he was standing still, almost knocking him down before he came back to awareness, barely blocking another blow.

"_What the, where, Ena!?" _he thought in a slightly confused fashion. He found himself panting, tired, and struggling to defend himself. Where was Ena!? Then as he blocked another attack, something in his subconscious told him, **"**_**Safe, for now."**_, before fading back into the background. It was at that moment that Ryo heard a screeching of tires and witnessed from the corner of one eye Mr. Lightbird's old pickup truck grinding to a halt. Then just as the others jumped out, he felt his energy run out and he demorphed, falling unconscious.

Next Time: Episode Seven. Eye in Team, Not!

* * *

Author's Note: Whoa! Ryo has been having a hard time of it this time! Not only were he and his sister attacked, but the influence of his 'Other' Spirit has shown itself! Something that has caught the attention of certain people around the world. (Some of you Sailor Moon fans could probably guess who.) Also we have the first insight into Lord Toskarat's Master Plan, and if it works, it'll be very bad!

Cordially, Talanane.


	7. Chapter 7

**Power Rangers Indomitable Spirit**

**By Talanane

* * *

**

The following is a work of Fanfiction. This means that it contains some characters, items, locations and other things that I neither own nor have the rights to. It also means that I never have and never will make any money off of these works.

* * *

**Episode Seven: Eye in Team? Not!**

John O'Neill fumed slightly as he sat at the wheel of Mr. Lightbird's old pickup truck. It never failed. Whenever someone really has to get anywhere quickly, as in now, that was when traffic would start to back up. "C'mon, c'mon!" he said impatiently as he was waiting for the light to change.

"Patience," Henry told him, even though the older man was just as worried as John was. He was also slightly worried that any reckless driving could result in another ticket. Not too much though, since quite obviously the Police had something much more serious to worry about right now. Finally the light changed and the young man at the wheel almost floored it, bringing a whine of protest from the transmission. As they reached the intersection of Sixth and Grassland, the brakes and tires screeched as John brought the vehicle to a fast stop.

Nearly banging the truck's door open, John dropped to the tarmac just in time to witness Ryo demorphing and falling unconscious to the ground with several Primals fast approaching. "Don't you dare!" he shouted as he pulled out his talisman. **"Spirit Warrior Power! Thunderbird!"** he called out, bringing out his combat knife just as the change completed and then charging forward with the intention of putting himself between the Primals and his friend.

"_Reckless"_, Henry Lightbird thought to himself as he saw this, although he agreed with the sentiment. Although his arm was still a little sore from his injury, the Shaman followed suit, pulling out his own talisman. Shouting out **"Spirit Warrior Power! Stag!"**, he donned his white Shaman clothes. With staff in hand, the White Spirit Warrior joined his student in defending his fallen comrade.

Lisa looked on at the two of them standing in a defensive position over the other boy, her mother's words echoing in her mind. **_"Now my daughter, remember. Your friends need you! Don't run away like I did! Stand with them and share both the happiness and the sadness. That is the way of the Power Rangers!"_** Now seeing the expressions of determination on her father's and John's faces, she finally realized something and as she did, the feelings within her heart and soul shifted, becoming clearer. At that moment she briefly saw the spirit of the Hare in her mind's eye as if it was standing right before her. It seemed to her as if the spirit winked and nodded at her as she pulled out her talisman, and as she did so, both it and the Hare changed color. Instead of the muddy yellow brown it had been before, they were now lemon yellow and white, and lemon yellow respectively. It seemed that as Lisa's feelings had become clear, less muddy, her Ranger Color had as well!

"**Spirit Warrior Power! Yellow Hare!"**, she shouted out and shifted into her Shaman's costume, which had likewise changed color

"I'm in!" Lisa shouted as she joined the others, blocking a Primal's attack with her stone knife. "About time!" John answered her as he stabbed another in it's nasal opening. "Yes," Mr. Lightbird said. "You have grown" as he swung his staff at a Primal.

Next, a wave of five more Primals came at them, even as the trio finished off the ones they were facing. They circled around the Spirit Warriors, trying to get at the unconscious Ryo and do the same thing they had to their other victims. Only the three, John, Henry and Lisa wouldn't let them!

"I'm not letting you creeps hurt my Father, or my Friends!" Lisa shouted out as she caught one of said 'creeps' claws on her knife. She pushed back, forcing the Primal away from Ryo's unconscious form, and then when there was a little space to move, kicked it hard in it's bony knee, staggering it and allowing her enough time to finish it with a stab to the eye socket. Mr. Lightbird followed suit, using the opening to smash the head of another with the end of his staff.

* * *

Once again the alarm went off in the tangential dimension, alerting the one time Queen of the Dark Kingdom that the Primals she had sent to collect the necessary Spirit Energy for Lord Toskarat's plan were being destroyed. She went down to the viewing chamber, clearly annoyed that she had been called away from what she at least called her 'Beauty Sleep.' Activating the spell, Beryl saw that indeed a fair number of her, or rather Lord Toskarat's, minions had indeed been destroyed already. Looking at the images of the ones fighting them, she was determined to catch sight of, and remember their faces, before she destroyed them! She knew that somehow, these were the Power Rangers that Goldar so detested, and now she was beginning to understand why! They, like her own enemy, always seemed to defeat the best laid plans of the Dark Forces. While she couldn't quite commit the faces of any of them to memory just yet, some force or power preventing it, somehow one of them seemed familiar to her. The unconscious boy on the ground. She could somehow swear that she had seen him somewhere, but where!

"Goldar! Goldar!" she shouted. "Where are you!"

Elsewhere in Toskarat's palace, the gold armored monkey-cat hybrid sneezed, which let him know that someone was talking about him. Then he heard the 'old lady's' as he thought of her, voice. "Get over here, now!" he heard her shout, as he started scrambling in the direction of her voice.

* * *

Mr. Lightbird and his two conscious students were becoming somewhat battered due to having to stand over and protect Ryo's unconscious form, and thus taking blows that they otherwise would have avoided. Still, they managed to take down a good number of the Primals, and it was fortunate that they disappeared when slain, or they would have started piling up! Then just as the crowd of spirits was being thinned out, something else happened. There was a flash of light and a figure in ornate golden armor with black wings appeared briefly, just long enough to bring out a metal sphere like the one he had used before. Placing the ModSoul capsule in the device, Goldar threw it to the ground and just as quickly transported out. The sphere activated, changing it's form until it became a creature that resembled an outsized green and black parrot, with six limbs including both wings and arms. It's feet were vicious metal shod talons and the feathers on both arms and wings were razor sharp. It's most noticeable feature however were it's eyes, or rather the number of them and their placement. There were at least four of them on the head alone, both in the front and on the sides, and maybe at least one in the back. There were also others in various places on it's body where no eye had any business being.

"Oh gross!" Lisa said succinctly as she spotted one of the eye's in particular.

"That's just plain wrong!" John commented.

"Definitely against the laws of nature!" Mr. Lightbird agreed, even as the 'parrot' launched some of it's sharp edged feathers at the three of them, forcing them to weave and bob, while still protecting Ryo as best they could.

"Pollyeyes, Pollyeyes!" the Modsoul Monster cried out as it attacked again. The group took another round of flying feathers, a few of them hitting John, scratching his face and slashing up his uniform.

"That's it freak! You're going down!" he shouted. **"Spirit Ranger Power, Thunderbird! Release!" **As his morphing completed he then pulled the two pistols out of their holsters. **"Thunderbird Guns!"** he called out, taking aim and firing.

Lisa also morphed, donning her now yellow and white Ranger suit. Unlike the Red Ranger's guns though, her Hare Boots were strictly melee weapons, meaning that for the time being she was strictly on the defensive.

Finally Mr. Lightbird put on his bracelet and morphed for the first time. **"Spirit Ranger Power, Stag! Release!"** His Shaman garb vanished in a flash of light and was replaced with a white Ranger uniform, with silver Stag motifs on the helmet and on the chest, with black tribal markings running along the sides of the body, arms, and legs. His staff changed to a more ornate own, with gold, silver and turquoise decorations around the crystal in the head. As the morph completed, Henry Lightbird felt within himself that his Shaman powers were now stronger than they had ever been. In fact he felt that he could now.. With that though, the older Ranger began chanting in his native language, even while blocking a few stray feathers. _**"Spirit of the wind, hear my plea! Strike out at the Evil before us! In the Great Spirit's name!"**_ As the chant finished, strong high density gusts of wind suddenly blew in, forming into almost visible blades of dense air and slashing at the ModSoul Monster's eyes. The White Stag Ranger's special weapon was not a weapon at all, but the power of the spirits themselves. Otherwise known as Shamanistic, or Animistic, Magic!

The wind blades had struck a number of the exposed eyes, making Pollyeyes stop and blink, allowing John to target the affected orbs. The Red Ranger's shots staggered the bird a bit, but didn't really do too much damage, due to those eyes already being closed. After a couple of moments the big bird recovered and countered with a great flap of it's wings, sending it's own gusts of wind at the team. While the dust kicked up in the process couldn't blind the Rangers, due to their helmet visors, the gusts themselves could push them slightly off balance. Mr. Lightbird, the White Ranger, was forced to one knee as he had just finished casting a spell and so was not ready for the attack. The others were a bit luckier, but still they barely managed to avoid tripping over Ryo's unconscious body. They would have been in trouble, set up for the ModSoul Monster's next attack, only at that very moment a number of shots rang out, distracting Pollyeyes just long enough for John and Lisa to steady themselves. The Police SWAT team, such as it was, had arrived and was trying to help. Their assault rifles only irritated the beast though, as no normal weapon can affect a Spirit of any kind. The Pollyeyes simply sent a barrage of feathers back at them, forcing them to cease fire and take cover. They they had however eased the pressure on the Rangers just long enough for John, the Red Ranger to resume firing his own weapons at it, striking one of the more sensitive eyes.

Pollyeyes squawked in pain for the first time in the battle and paused, holding it's injury. Lisa took the risk of leaving her guard position and followed up with a shout of "Hare Kick!", landing one on the ModSoul Monster's hands where it was holding on. It let go of itself, shaking it's stinging appendages. John took the liberty of shooting it again. Pollyeyes decided then and there that it had enough of this and started flapping it's wings, taking to the air.

"Hey, it's running, well, flying away!" Lisa shouted. She stamped her feet together on the ground and then jumped with a cry of "Hare Bound!", trying to catch it. She fell short as the bird monster was already too high. "Hey come back here!" she exclaimed as it flew away into the distance. "Aww! It got away!"

"Too far to shoot down, dang!" John said. "Just have to wait till it strikes again."

"He's right." the White Ranger said. "We have something more important to do now," he indicated, waving his hand at Ryo laying there on the ground. At that moment, the SWAT officers had left cover and were approaching, asking "Are all of you okay?"

"We'll live," the Red Ranger told them. "But this guy here could use some help."

"Ah, right," the officer replied. "We'll get the Ambulance here right away!"

* * *

"Uhhh!" Ryo groaned as he blinked his eyes in response to the bright light. He tried to sit up, but his body was slow to respond, and he had to give up. He could look around a little, and he soon realized that he was in bed, but not his own. Instead he was in a white room and he realized he could hear a faint beeping noise in the background. Then, as his mind came into better focus, he knew where he was.

"_Hospital!"_ he thought. _"I'm in the Hospital! But why?"_ Then, as he started remembering what had happened he said to himself, _"Oh, that's right! I was fighting those things, trying to.. Ena! Where's Ena! Where's my Sister!"_ He tried to sit up again, and this time did so, his concern for his sibling giving him the strength. Not enough to get out of bed yet, he soon found, as he fell to the floor beside it, alerting the nurse.

"Hey, you shouldn't be trying to get up yet!" the male nurse said as he entered the room. As the nurse helped Ryo back up into bed, the boy asked. "My sister, my sister, Ena, Ena Urawa. Is she here? Is she alright?"

"Ena Urawa?" the nurse asked. Ryo nodded weakly as he was placed back in bed. "I'll check. There have been a few people brought in today." The man paused, before saying, "You just stay here and rest, alright?"

Ryo, his brief burst of energy due to his emotion expended, just replied, "Ah, okay," before falling asleep once more.

* * *

Meanwhile Mr. Lightbird, John, and Lisa had demorphed and gathered at the Lightbird home. While they were concerned for their friend, they had the task of finding and defeating the Pollyeyes, which was still on the loose. The trouble was that they had only 'met' it once and didn't really know what motivation, if any, it had, or where it would strike next.

"Well we know it looks like a bird and it can fly," John said. "And about the eyes. Let's not forget the eyes."

"We know it uses wind and it's feathers to attack," Mr. Lightbird pointed out. "It may also attack like a hawk when airborne."

"Well, yeah," John said. "But we have no way of fighting it in the air. Well I could if I used the 'Thunderbird', but it's a little big. The rest of us, no."

"I can jump!" Lisa told them.

"Yeah, you tried that, and you fell down gone boom." John replied.

"Unfortunately, the only choice we have is to wait until it appears again," Mr. Lightbird said sadly. "We need patience."

"Or more help." John stated.

* * *

Officer Greta Sloane of the Prairie City P.D sighed. It had been one crazy day. No, scratch that, it had been one crazy couple of weeks. Ever since those 'monsters' had started showing up and then those 'Power Rangers'. She shook her head. She knew about the Power Rangers, since she had actually lived in Angel Grove, California, back when she was a kid. She had seen the first team, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a few times, although like everyone else, she never knew who they really were.

Now there was a Ranger Team here, in Prairie City, along with the monsters. She wondered briefly, just which of the 'Evil Overlords' was behind this, and how the Rangers were going to stop him, or her. She also wondered is there was any way she, and/or the department could help, since she knew that ordinary police grade weapons didn't work on the monsters. For that had been part Greta's original motivation to become a Police Officer, the urge to help people. Back in the day, probably like many others, she had fantasized about being a Ranger herself.

"C'mon Greta," she said to herself. "You a Ranger? Like that could happen."

* * *

A little while later in the shopping district, people were screaming and fleeing from the pet supply shop, since the Pollyeyes had decided it liked it there. Currently it was raiding the bird seed stocks and making a mess as it tore open the packages. The only people who hadn't run away were the store manger, who was righteously indignant over the vandalism and theft, and one reporter from a local television station's news crew, who just happened to be recording.

"Hey you big bird!" the manager shouted waving a broom at the monster. "You're going to pay for that, every last cent!" However all that his actions earned him was a swift feather barrage, knocking him cold and leaving him slightly injured. Meanwhile the reporter just kept recording as the Pollyeyes went back to feeding itself.

"Hey Shawn, are you getting this?" the reporter asked her assistant back in the news van.

"Sure thing Aggie," Shawn answered. "Crystal clear and on live in five seconds!"

* * *

Back at the Lightbird house, the picture on the TV suddenly changed and the news anchor came on saying. "This just in! We have just received word that the parrot monster that appeared earlier at Little Prairie Park has made another appearance. This time at the Pettarus store downtown, where it is reported that it is gorging itself on bird seed. We now take you live to the scene with Aggie Maxwell.

"Well, you heard that?" John said to the other two.

"Yeah," Lisa replied. "Here we go again."

Mr. Lightbird said nothing, only nodding and getting up off the couch, following the two kids as they exited the room.

John and Lisa were breathing hard from running they had to do to reach the pet store. _"This sucks!" _John thought to himself as he ran. _"Aren't the heroes supposed to have some kind of cool vehicle or something to get where they're going. I know the Zords are cool and all, but still."_

"_It's not that I don't appreciate the workout, but couldn't we have taken the truck at least?" _Lisa thought, unknowingly echoing some of John's thoughts.

All complaints about transportation aside, it wasn't too long before the two of them saw signs that they had arrived, namely pieces of smashed window glass from the pet store's facade and a local news van with slightly faded decals. Nodding to each other, John and Lisa morphed into their Ranger forms before proceeding. Now suited up, they made their way cautiously toward the storefront, hoping to get the drop on the thing making the mess. They found it, tearing through the shelves on one side toward the rear of the store, seeking more birdseed.

"Hey, Eyeballs!" The Red Ranger shouted at it. "It's not nice to trash someone's place! Think of all those starving puppies!"

The great bird with the eyes just squawked back at him, sending a barrage of sharp edged feathers in his direction. He ducked most of them, with a couple of them striking and scratching the finish on the Ranger's helmet. Lisa also took a couple of feathers on her left shoulder, although they didn't penetrate, leaving only a slight scratch on the material of her suit.

"Hey, watch it birdie!" the Yellow Ranger shouted back at it. The creature's only response was to open it's wings and flap, sending a gust of wind their way, which in the narrow confines of the store aisle forced the Rangers to go down on one knee and brace themselves against the blast. As the burst of wind passed, the two of them got back up on their feet.

"We've got to get this thing outside somehow!" the Red Ranger exclaimed.

"How!" the Yellow Ranger replied.

"How should I know!" the other Ranger said as Pollyeyes sent another feather barrage at them, barely missing.

For about another forty five seconds the game of feather dodge went on, with both John and Lisa taking glancing blows, but no real damage. Then to their slight surprise, the attacks stopped. When the Rangers came out to see where Pollyeyes had gone, they found that it had just gone right back to gorging itself on whatever birdseed it could find.

"Doesn't that beat all" John commented, to which Lisa added, "Ignore us will he!"

* * *

Over in Toskarat's tangential dimension, Goldar was becoming frustrated at Pollyeye's actions, or lack of action. Beryl too was having her doubts about the Modsoul Monster's effectiveness.

"Hey what are you doing!" the monkey-cat shouted at the viewer, even though the creature couldn't hear him. "I told you to get the Rangers!"

"It looks like your 'friend's' monster is a washout Goldar" Beryl commented.

"No kidding" Goldar answered her.

* * *

Meanwhile, since the monster was still eating, John thought that he and Lisa would take advantage of the situation and try to sneak up on the big bird. Whispering to her to stay where she was, he then went to the next aisle over in order to circle around and come upon the Pollyeyes from the other side. It might have worked if the bird monster had not just finished one bag of seed at the critical moment when the ambush would have been set. As it was, Pollyeyes raised it's head just in time to see the Red Ranger come into the aisle right next to it. Surprised, it suddenly spat up some of what it had consumed with nearly the force of a seedy, mucoid shotgun blast!

"Yuck!" John called out as he was pelted with the undigested bird seed, the force of which was sufficient to knock him back a bit. Pollyeyes followed this with an instinctive wing buffet, slapping the Ranger on either side, knocking him down. Now angered at having it's feeding interrupted, the big bird continued flapping it's wings, sending air currents over the fallen warrior. That was until it heard a cry of "Hare Kick!", and felt the impact of the Yellow Ranger's boot in the tail feathers! The force of the kick was sufficient to send Pollyeyes over the fallen Red Ranger and into the corner of the shelf on the other side.

Meanwhile, since the monster was still eating, John thought that he and Lisa would take advantage of the situation and try to sneak up on the big bird. Whispering to her to stay where she was, he then went to the next aisle over in order to circle around and come upon the Pollyeyes from the other side. It might have worked if the bird monster had not just finished one bag of seed at the critical moment when the ambush would have been set. As it was, Pollyeyes raised it's head just in time to see the Red Ranger come into the aisle right next to it. Surprised, it suddenly spat up some of what it had consumed with nearly the force of a seedy, mucoid shotgun blast!

"Yuck!" John called out as he was pelted with the undigested bird seed, the force of which was sufficient to knock him back a bit. Pollyeyes followed this with an instinctive wing buffet, slapping the Ranger on either side, knocking him down. Now angered at having it's feeding interrupted, the big bird continued flapping it's wings, sending air currents over the fallen warrior. That was until it heard a cry of "Hare Kick!", and felt the impact of the Yellow Ranger's boot in the tail feathers! The force of the kick was sufficient to send Pollyeyes over the fallen Red Ranger and into the corner of the shelf on the other side.

"Don't puke on people!" Lisa said as the monster impacted, letting out a squawk. John had just enough time to get up and brush a little of the bird puke off before the bird that barfed it recovered. Now the monster was upset, trying another wing buffet which the two Rangers barely avoided. Since it was now literally backed against a corner, Pollyeyes couldn't use it's feather barrage or wind gust attacks. It was however just the optimum range for Lisa's Hare Boots, which she proved with a hard kick to the Modsoul Monster's leg. With another squawk, the thing stumbled back again, right into another shelf, which dumped it's load of pet toys onto Pollyeye's head. While it was disoriented, John took the opportunity to stick his combat knife into one of the creature's many eyes. With another screech of pain, Pollyeyes reflexively kicked, sending some of the fallen pet supplies into the air, some of which hit the Rangers. This didn't really hurt them, although it did distract them for half a second. It also brought about a third scream of pain and a cracking sound as it further damaged it's hurt leg. Recovering from their disorientation, John and Lisa hit the monster again with their knives, taking out more eyes. Pollyeyes flapped it's wings in distress, buffeting the two Rangers back unintentionally. It took them a few seconds to recover from that, but that was all the time they needed, since Pollyeyes was now quite literally lame in one leg. Knowing this, the many eyed parrot started flapping it's wings as if to fly away, but was too constrained by the store shelves to do so.

"Thunderbird Guns!", "Hare Boots!" the two Rangers cried out near simultaneously, their attacks putting just enough hurt on the bird to destroy it, even without their third member. As Pollyeyes disappeared, John and Lisa waited just a moment to see if it was really gone. It was.

"What, no giant birdie this time?" John quipped. Lisa just shrugged, since she didn't know the answer to that. At that moment the store manager and Shawn, the camera operator from the local TV station came up to the two of them from different directions.

"Ah, is it over?" the manager asked the Red Ranger.

"Seems to be" John replied. Then from another direction the reporter Agatha, "Aggie' Maxwell came onto the scene, ready to ask some serious questions.

* * *

Over at Prairie City Hospital, Ryo awoke for the second time to see the concerned face of his father sitting on a stool by the foot of his bed.

"_Oh Crap! How am I going to explain this!"_ Ryo asked himself.

"How are you feeling?" his father asked.

"I, I'm sorry Sir, about Ena" Ryo began to say, but his father cut him off with a 'stop' gesture.

"I know son" he said with a sigh. "I don't know if. Those 'monster' things and those 'Power Rangers' they talk about. No, I don't think there's anything any of us 'ordinary' people can do about that. We just get in the way"

Ryo thought for a moment before answering, "You're right dad", aloud and mentally adding to himself, _"We were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Ena did get 'caught in the middle' as they say" _"I just, hope Ena will be all right"

"Ah, your mother is looking in on her" the elder Urawa told his son. "The doctors say that she's in some kind of coma now. They don't know what caused it. There's a few other people too, just like her"

"I'd heard that" Ryo replied, _"I have to do better, for my sister, and everyone"_

Next Time: Recovery, Scars

* * *

Author's Note: Okay, I'm sorry about this taking four months to post. I know the ending to the monster battle might seem to be a little lame (literally). There's no rule that every monster has to grow to giant size either, so bear with it.


	8. Recovery, Scars

**Power Rangers Indomitable Spirit**

**By Talanane

* * *

**

The following is a work of Fanfiction. This means that it contains some characters, items, locations and other things that I neither own nor have the rights to. It also means that I never have and never will make any money off of these works.

* * *

**Episode Eight: Recovery, Scars**

"_I have to do better, for my sister and everyone" _Ryo thought as he sat in his bed at Prairie City Hospital. As he did, he wondered how the others were doing and if they had found the bird monster that had escaped them. His father sat on a stool by the foot of the bed, worrying about the state of Ryo's sister, his daughter, Ena.

Meanwhile, Ryo's mother was seated on a bench in the waiting area near Ena's room, waiting news on her condition. A few minutes later a nurse came over and called, "Mrs Urawa!"

"Yes" she answered.

"Would you come with me please, I have something to tell you"

Ryo's mother had a small sense of dread on hearing those words, particularly due to the tone at which they were said. She got up and followed the man into a small examination room to hear the news.

"Mrs. Urawa, I understand that this may be hard for you to hear. You have to understand, your daughter is currently in a coma, due to unknown reasons"

"Unknown?" Ryo's mother asked.

"Yes, we have run a number of tests on her, but there doesn't seem to be anything physically wrong with her"

"You mean it could be something mental? She replied

"Yes, it certainly could be a catatonic state due to psychological trauma, given her age" the nurse told her. "We couldn't tell the extent of the damage to her personality until she wakes up"

"I see" Mrs Urawa said.

* * *

Over at the pet supply store, the Red Ranger had just finished fending off the questions of the over inquisitive reporter and her camera operator, mostly with answers of 'no comment'.

"You need a bath" Lisa told John

"Well, a big overgrown parrot did puke on me" John replied.

Fortunately the major part of that problem was taken care of when the two of them turned into a hidden corner and called out "Power Down", demorphing. The bird mess may have been gone, but demorphing did little to relieve their tiredness

Yawning, John turned to Lisa and said, "If no other bug eyed or bone headed monsters are coming out, I'm going home"

"Same here" Lisa replied in a tired voice. "See you in School Johnny"

"Hey, don't call me Johnny!" he shouted at her as she left.

* * *

A while later just as visiting hours at Prairie City Hospital were about to end and just as Ryo's father was about to leave, a doctor came into the room to tell them that Ryo's tests all came out in the normal range and thus he could go home. As Mr. Urawa left the room so that his son could change into his street clothes, Mrs. Urawa arrived, tears on her face, telling her husband about Ena's condition. As Ryo came out after dressing, his father told him what his mother had said. The young man sighed with a touch of melancholy. On the way home, Ryo thought about what he had learned.

"_I know my sister's had a shock, but she shouldn't be like this. It's not like those things actually touched her. Or did they? Things __did__ get a little fuzzy about that time. What really is going on with those monsters anyway? And why do I get the feeling that something like it, or very similar has happened before?"_ Ryo thought to himself.

A couple of days later as Ryo walked back into class, he could hear the other students murmuring among themselves about how he had been attacked by the Primals, and about the Rangers' battle at the pet supply shop. Almost as a matter of course the class clowns Benny and Jeremy 'confronted' him about what happened the other day.

"Oh, you still alive U wah wah?" Benny said. "I guess that little sister of yours protected you, huh?"

"Yeah, I hear she's still in the Hos-pitiful" Jeremy added.

"Your concern is appreciated" Ryo replied to them, not rising to their bait.

"Lay off!" Talia Shivers told the two as she came up behind them. "The teacher's coming. Everyone scrambled to their seats and shut up as Mr. Lightbird came in.

"Good afternoon students" the teacher addressed them. "Now, I realize that some of you have been affected either directly or indirectly by what has been happening in the past few weeks. Some of your friends and family have been hurt or badly affected in one incident or another. However, this is not the time or place to discuss this. That can wait until after class!"

"Yes Sir!" most of the students said in unison.

After school, the three Rangers once again gathered at the Lightbird house.

"Man, the last few days..." John started to say before trailing off, Ryo answering with "I know. The attacks, my sister, not really knowing who is behind it or what they want"

"Other than that 'Goldar' creature, yeah" John replied, nodding.

"What I want to know is why here?" Lisa asked. "Why not someplace like, say, Angel Grove or one of those other places?"

"That is a good question" Ryo answered. "Why here?"

"Duh, wouldn't it be because there's something here that they want, like a big honking gun/weapon, forbidden power/device or something like that"

"You mean the usual sort of thing that the 'Bad Guys' are after in some fiction or other?" Ryo commented. "If I didn't know better, I would think that we were in one"

"Well, the 'Good Guys' in this story aren't doing so hot" Lisa added. "We were kind of lucky this last time"

"No kidding" John quipped. "We barely got that bird-thingie, since our Blue Ranger had his own problems at the time"

"I am sorry about that" Ryo answered him. "It is true that we have had some good luck along with the bad. It is also true that we are inexperienced, untrained and do not have the same resources as some other teams in the past"

"Well, yeah" John admitted._ "That's true for the two of you. And yes, I hate to admit it, I haven't exactly brushed up on my Special Forces training in this 'life'. Nor do we as Ryo pointed out, have some sort of completely equipped Secret Base inside a mountain"_, he added to himself.

"Our young mister Urawa has a point" Henry told the boys and his daughter. "We have not had the time to practice or train. Nor do we, as mister O'Neil pointed out, know precisely who or what the beings behind the attacks are or what their goal is" He paused before continuing, saying "As for why this area..", he paused again before a troubled look came onto his face, "There is one old story my ancestors told..."

"What?" all three of the kids asked simultaneously as they saw the concern on Mr. Lightbird's face.

"I'll have to review some of my notes and meditate" Henry answered, his voice barely audible. Ryo had a sudden slight chill, as his senses told him that Mr. Lightbird may very well know something. Before he could ask the teacher what he was thinking, Henry spoke up saying. "Now, I think the two of you should go home for today" motioning toward John and Ryo in a gesture of dismissal.

* * *

Right now in the tangential dimension, Lord Toskarat was not pleased, or rather he was more displeased than usual at the failure of Goldar, Finster and Hinamori's last monster.

"You Idiots!" the Dark Lord screamed at the trio. "Because of your insipid 'monster', we actually have less energy reserves than we started with! I ought to just convert all of you into Dark Energy!"

"I'm sorry sir!" Goldar started to explain. "I'm sure I..."

"No excuses, from any of you!" Toskarat roared. "I'll give you one more chance! If your next 'creation' fails.." He left the threat hanging.

"Yes sir" Goldar replied, a little chastened.

"_Fools"_ thought Beryl, who just so happened to be concealed in one corner of the throne room. _"Let them fail. Then maybe Lord Toskarat will let me do things my way!"

* * *

_

Later the same evening, Henry Lightbird was in a private room in the basement of his house, which he had set up as a combination library/ceremonial chamber, where no one else, not even his daughter Lisa knew of. On this night he was looking through some of the research materials, such as old books, notebooks, scrolls, parchments, etc, that he had collected over the years. In particular he was concentrating on some handwritten notes he himself had made in his youth, after listening to stories told by the elders of his tribe. He had to admit though, that back then he was not as thorough in his note taking back then as he could have been, and therefore they were not as complete as they should have been. Then again he was still a young man back then, with the interests of a young man. The most he could get was a mention of a 'Doorway to Ultimate Evil' and the 'Key" to opening it. Not a clear answer by any means, but in this 'business' clear signs were rare.

Putting the notes away, the middle aged Shaman sighed. _"Young Ryo is right"_ he thought. _"We don't really know what we're facing, other than the fact that they're evil spirits and steal spiritual energy" _Henry paused for a moment, then decided. Now getting up out of the old wooden chair he used for reading, he headed out through the secret door into his bedroom, pausing to pick up his cell phone, which he purposely never took into the library/ceremonial chamber, and dialed a number he hadn't called in years.

Meanwhile in her own room, Lisa was thinking about what had happened in the past few days, especially about what had happened to Ryo's sister. She hadn't known him for long, but somehow Lisa was already starting to consider him as a friend. Something she wouldn't have done just a few short weeks ago, as wrapped up in her own problems as she had been. As for John, Lisa found herself actually blushing a bit as she thought of him. It wasn't just his physical appearance, even though that was a factor. There was just this something about him that just... She couldn't pin down what it was. Shaking her head to clear out her thoughts, the young woman turned toward the old desk, intending to start her homework.

* * *

John O'Neil sneezed once, violently, smearing the ink upon the page he was working on. Scowling a bit, he set the sheet aside, and sighed. Fortunately it hadn't been too important, scholastically speaking, as he had finished his homework a while ago. _"Guess I'll finish that tomorrow"_ he thought to himself. _"I'm getting a little sleepy anyway"

* * *

_

Ryo Urawa emerged from the Prairie City Public Library, where he had spent the last three hours researching anything that might be related to monsters or the supernatural. He had found that there was surprisingly little material on such subjects, and what there was amounted to less than one shelf's worth overall. Or rather there were a lot of empty spaces where those volumes would have been if they weren't checked out. Apparently he wasn't the only one interested. Not a big surprise, given recent events. When he asked the librarian about it, the man told him, "I'm sorry about that, but we never had much on ghost, demons, or such things. People around here aren't usually into that sort of thing"

"I see" Ryo said.

"You could try an Internet search, although I wouldn't take everything you'd find there seriously." the librarian suggested. "I don't think kids your age should be researching monsters and demons anyway" he added.

* * *

Meanwhile at Prairie City Hospital, visiting hours were about to come to a close. The elder Urawas, who were just leaving the room when they heard their daughter's voice call out.

"Mommy, Daddy" the young girl called. The two adults turned to see Ena sitting up, awake.

"Ena!" the toddler's parents called back, rushing back to her bedside. "You're awake!"

"Mommy" Ena called again as the woman moved to embrace her child.

"Thank Kami" Mr. Urawa said, putting a hand on top of his daughter's head, ruffling her hair. "We were worried"

"Sorry" the child replied, a bit muffled as she held tight against her mother. Then Ena realized that someone was missing and asked, "Papa, where's Brother, where's Brother? He was supposed to take me to the park"

"Ah, well" Mr. Urawa stammered, thinking for a moment, and then settled on the simple truth. "Well, he did say something about going to the library"

"Library?, but" Ena replied, confused.

"Ah" Ena's mother said. "Well dear, you, you got sick, and had to go to the hospital, and we've all been worried about you"

"Hospital? Sick?" the little girl asked, confused.

"Ah, I see that someone's awake now" a doctor commented as she entered the room. "Good"

"Oh, doctor, I'm sorry if" Mr. Urawa answered her. "It's just"

"It's okay" the doctor replied back. "I'm just glad that your daughter seems to be recovering"

"Thank you" Mr. Urawa said

* * *

Next Time: Diversion and Theft, The Electrical Menace.

Author's Note: All right, I realize that there wasn't any action in this one. It was mainly the aftermath of the Pollyeyes debacle, and how it affected the characters, as well as checking on on Ryo's sister.

Cordially, Talanane


End file.
